K-pop album exports and sales expected to reach a new high this year.

According to the Korea Customs Service's latest data, K-pop album exports from January to November this year stood at $215.7 million, up 5.6 percent from the same period last year. In 2021, the total amount of exports was $220.9 million - the highest figure ever.

Japan imported the most K-pop albums this year, totaling $77.5 million. Next were China and the U.S., which imported $50.9 million and $35.3 million, respectively. Taiwan, Thailand, the Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia and France were also major export destinations.

"K-pop stars were unable to stage any concerts in China this year, but K-pop album exports from January to November still jumped by 22.5 percent compared to the same period last year," it said.

Two of the best-selling acts were BTS and Stray Kids. The former sold more than 3 million copies of its June release "Proof," and the latter reached the same milestone with its seventh mini-album "MAXIDENT" that came out in October.

BLACKPINK, NCT DREAM and SEVENTEEN sold 2 million copies of their albums, while 'NCT 127', 'Tomorrow X Together' (TXT), 'TWICE', 'IVE', 'ATEEZ', 'ENHYPEN', 'Aespa' and 'BTS-Jin' surpassed the 1 million mark.