List of best-selling singles in South Korea

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This is an incomplete list of best-selling singles in South Korea. All singles listed here have officially sold at least three million copies. Unless otherwise specified, all sales figures are digital downloads compiled by the Korea Music Content Industry Association (KMCA) for the Gaon Music Chart since 2010.

Background and details[]

  • Prior to the establishment of the Gaon Chart in 2010, South Korea's music charts were supplied by the Music Industry Association of Korea (MIAK), which stopped compiling data in 2008.[1][2] There are no official cumulative chart records for digital singles prior to 2010.
  • South Korea has experienced a decline in digital music sales volume which began in late 2012.[3] The price of digital downloads was greatly inflated, and as a result, only five songs released since 2013 — "Wild Flower" (2014) by Park Hyo-shin, "Shape of You" (2017) by Ed Sheeran, "Every Day, Every Moment" (2018) by Paul Kim, and "Friday" (2013) and "Through the Night" (2017) by IU—have surpassed the three million sales mark.
  • All total sales are rounded to the nearest 100 and expressed in thousands.
  • The figures listed below are somewhat lower than the actual sales. In general, they are merely the sums of currently available or archived sales numbers counted until the very last month or year each of the songs charted. The Gaon Music Chart has only recently officially announced release-to-date track sales, although only listing the songs that have reached multiples of 2.5 million copies sold.
  • The Gaon Music Chart stopped releasing sales figures for songs in 2018.
  • The following figures do not include sales from remixes.

Records[]

Song Artist(s) Released Total sales
(million) 		Ref.
"Cherry Blossom Ending" Busker Busker 2012 8.0 [4]
"You & I" IU 2011 7.0 [4]
"Through the Night" IU 2017 6.0 [4]
"Moves like Jagger" Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera 2011 5.58 [5]
"Friday" IU ft. Jang Yi-jeong of History 2013 5.0 [6]
"Wild Flower" Park Hyo Shin 2014 5.0 [7]
"I Will Go to You Like the First Snow" Ailee 2017 5.0 [6]
"Gift" MeloMance 2017 5.0 [6]
"Spring Day" BTS 2017 5.0 [4]
"Shape of You" Ed Sheeran 2017 5.0 [8]
"Every Day, Every Moment" Paul Kim 2018 5.0 [9]
"Good Day" IU 2010 4.8 [10]
"Trouble Maker" Trouble Maker 2011 4.46 [11]
"I Miss You" Noel 2011 4.45 [12]
"Roly-Poly" T-ara 2011 4.41 [13]
"Nagging" IU and Lim Seulong 2010 4.24 [14]
"I Can't" 4Men ft. Mii 2010 4.21 [15]
"Memory of the Wind" Naul 2012 4.21 [16]
"Party Rock Anthem" LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett and GoonRock 2011 4.2 [17]
"Gangnam Style" Psy 2012 4.04 [18]
"Fantastic Baby" Big Bang 2012 4.04 [19]
"Don't Say Goodbye" Davichi 2011 4.02 [20]
"So Cool" Sistar 2011 4.01 [21]
"The Western Sky" Ulala Session 2011 3.93 [22]
"Be My Baby" Wonder Girls 2011 3.92 [23]
"I Am the Best" 2NE1 2011 3.8 [24]
"Hello" Huh Gak 2011 3.8 [25]
"Cry Cry" T-ara 2011 3.78 [26]
"Lovey-Dovey" T-ara 2012 3.76 [27]
"Yeosu Night Sea" Busker Busker 2012 3.76 [28]
"All for You" Seo In-guk and Jung Eun-ji 2012 3.67 [29]
"Having an Affair" Park Myung-soo and G-Dragon ft. Park Bom 2011 3.66 [30]
"I Turned Off the TV..." Leessang ft. Yoon Mi-rae and Kwon Jung-yeol 2011 3.63 [31]
"The Boys" Girls' Generation 2011 3.62 [32]
"Rolling in the Deep" Adele 2011 3.61 [33]
"Good Bye Baby" Miss A 2011 3.6 [34]
"Blue" Big Bang 2012 3.56 [A]
"Loving U" Sistar 2012 3.44 [37]
"Alone" Sistar 2012 3.42 [38]
"Can't Let You Go Even If I Die" 2AM 2010 3.36 [39]
"On Rainy Days" Beast 2011 3.36 [40]
"Dream Girl" Busker Busker 2011 3.35 [41]
"Bad Girl Good Girl" Miss A 2010 3.33 [42]
"Oh!" Girls' Generation 2010 3.33 [43]
"Ugly" 2NE1 2011 3.33 [44]
"Heaven" Ailee 2012 3.28 [45]
"Fiction" Beast 2011 3.26 [46]
"Every End of the Day" IU 2012 3.25 [47]
"Payphone" Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa 2012 3.15 [48]
"If You Really Love Me" Busker Busker 2012 3.13 [49]
"Apgujeong Nallari" Yoo Jae-suk and Lee Juck 2011 3.08 [50]
"Hot Summer" f(x) 2011 3.05 [51]
"I Go Crazy Because of You" T-ara 2010 3.04 [52]
"Lonely" 2NE1 2011 3.04 [53]
"Back in Time" Lyn 2012 3.04 [54]
"Starlight Moonlight" Secret 2011 3.02 [55]

Best-selling single by year (since 2010)[]

Domestic songs[]

Year Song Artist(s)/Group Yearly sales Total sales
2010 "Can't Let You Go Even If I Die" 2AM 3,352,827[56] 3,353,000[39]
2011 "Roly-Poly" T-ara 4,077,885[57] 4,375,000[13]
2012 "Gangnam Style" Psy 3,842,109[58] 4,041,000[18]
2013 "Shower of Tears" Baechigi ft. Ailee 1,880,676[59] 2,087,000[60]
2014 "Some" Soyou and Junggigo ft. Lil Boi 2,212,895[61] 2,868,000[62]
2015 "Bang Bang Bang" Big Bang 1,581,284[63] 2,500,000[64]
2016 "Rough" GFriend 1,903,126[65] 2,500,000[64]
2017 "I Will Go to You Like the First Snow" Ailee 2,488,341[66] 5,000,000[6]
2018 "Love Scenario"[67] iKon 2,500,000[68] 2,500,000[68]
2019 "Gotta Go"[69] Chungha N/A 2,500,000[68]
2020 "Any Song"[70] Zico N/A
2021 "My Starry Love"[71] Lim Young-woong

International songs[]

Year Song Artist(s)/Group Yearly sales Total sales
2010 "Tik Tok" Kesha 1,412,653[72] 2,512,000[73]
2011 "Moves like Jagger" Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera 2,149,469[74] 5,520,000[5]
2012 2,467,487[75]
2013 "Call Me Maybe" Carly Rae Jepsen 1,012,893[76] 2,500,000[64]
2014 "Let It Go" Idina Menzel 1,774,594[77] 2,059,000[78]
2015 "Sugar" Maroon 5 1,346,468[79] 2,500,000[64]
2016 "I'm Not the Only One" Sam Smith 969,207[80] 2,987,616[81]
2017 "Shape of You" Ed Sheeran 1,936,653[82] 5,000,000[8]
2018 "Havana"[83] Camila Cabello 2,500,000 2,500,000[64]
2019 "2002"[84][85] Anne-Marie N/A 2,500,000[68]
2020
2021 "Peaches"[86] Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon N/A

Artists with most downloaded songs (since 2010)[]

# Artist(s)/Group Count Songs
1st IU 6 songs "You & I"
"Through the Night"
"Good Day"
"Nagging"
"Every End of the Day"
"Friday"
2nd Busker Busker 4 songs "Cherry Blossom Ending"
"Yeosu Night Sea"
"Dream Girl"
"If You Really Love Me"
T-ara "Roly-Poly"
"Lovey-Dovey"
"Cry Cry"
"I Go Crazy Because of You"
3rd Sistar 3 songs "So Cool"
"Loving U"
"Alone"
2NE1 3 songs "I Am the Best"
"Ugly"
"Lonely"
4th Beast 2 songs "On Rainy Days"
"Fiction"
Big Bang "Fantastic Baby"
"Blue"
Maroon 5 "Moves like Jagger"
"Payphone"
Miss A "Good Bye Baby"
"Bad Girl Good Girl"
Girls' Generation "The Boys"
"Oh!"
Ailee "Heaven"
"I Will Go To You Like the First Snow"

See also[]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ These figures include downloads from the Special Edition version of "Blue". Both versions are identical.[35][36]

References[]

  1. ^ Han, Sang-hee (February 8, 2011). "Korea Launches First Official Music Charts Gaon". The Korea Times. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  2. ^ "Super Junior's 4th Album Ranked Top-Seller of 2010". The Chosun Ilbo. February 8, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  3. ^ Mulligan, Mark (May 8, 2013). "The Curious Case of the South Korean Music Market". WordPress.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d 가온차트 관찰노트 2편 [다운로드차트 누적 이용량] [Gaon Chart Observation Notes #2 (Download Count)]. Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved December 31, 2021 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ a b Cumulative sales for "Moves like Jagger":
  6. ^ a b c d "Gaon's 관찰노트" [Gaon's Observation Notes]. Gaon Music Chart. October 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  7. ^ C., Daniel (November 26, 2019). "Gaon's 관찰노트" [Gaon's Observation Notes]. Gaon Music Chart. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Gaon's 관찰노트" [Gaon's Observation Notes]. Gaon Music Chart. March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  9. ^ "가온 인증: 누적판매량 인증" [Gaon Certification: Download]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  10. ^ Cumulative sales for "Good Day":
  11. ^ Cumulative sales for "Trouble Maker":
  12. ^ Cumulative sales for "I Miss You":
  13. ^ a b Cumulative sales for "Roly-Poly":
  14. ^ Cumulative sales for "Nagging":
  15. ^ Cumulative sales for "I Can't":
  16. ^ Cumulative sales for "Memory of the Wind":
  17. ^ Cumulative sales for "Party Rock Anthem":
  18. ^ a b Sales references for "Gangnam Style":
  19. ^ Cumulative sales for "Fantastic Baby":
  20. ^ Cumulative sales for "Don't Say Goodbye":
  21. ^ Cumulative sales for "So Cool":
  22. ^ Cumulative sales for "The Western Sky":
  23. ^ Cumulative sales for "Be My Baby":
  24. ^ Cumulative sales for "I Am the Best":
  25. ^ Cumulative sales for "Hello":
  26. ^ Cumulative sales for "Cry Cry":
  27. ^ Cumulative sales for "Lovey-Dovey":
  28. ^ Cumulative sales for "Yeosu Night Sea":
  29. ^ Cumulative sales for "All for You":
  30. ^ Cumulative sales for "Having an Affair":
  31. ^ Cumulative sales for "I Turned Off the TV...":
  32. ^ Cumulative sales for "The Boys":
  33. ^ Cumulative sales for "Rolling in the Deep":
  34. ^ Cumulative sales for "Good Bye Baby":
  35. ^ Cumulative sales for "Blue (Special Edition version)" (from Still Alive EP):
  36. ^ Cumulative sales for "Blue" (from Alive EP):
  37. ^ Cumulative sales for "Loving U":
  38. ^ Cumulative sales for "Alone":
  39. ^ a b Cumulative sales for "Can't Let You Go Even If I Die":
  40. ^ Cumulative sales for "On Rainy Days":
  41. ^ Cumulative sales for "Dream Girl":
  42. ^ Cumulative sales for "Bad Girl Good Girl":
  43. ^ Cumulative sales for "Oh!":
  44. ^ Cumulative sales for "Ugly":
  45. ^ Cumulative sales for "Heaven":
  46. ^ Cumulative sales for "Fiction": *"Download Chart (Domestic) – Week 25 2014 (see #231)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved August 10, 2016. *"Download Chart (Domestic) – Week 26 2014 (see #246)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved August 10, 2016. *"Download Chart (Domestic) – Week 27 2014 (see #223)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved August 10, 2016. *"Download Chart (Domestic) – Week 28 2014 (see #252)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved August 10, 2016. *"Download Chart (Domestic) – Week 29 2014 (see #361)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved August 10, 2016. *"Download Chart (Domestic) – Week 30 2014 (see #387)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  47. ^ Cumulative sales for "Every End of the Day":
  48. ^ Cumulative sales for "Payphone":
  49. ^ Cumulative sales for "If You Really Love Me":
  50. ^ Cumulative sales for "Apgujeong Nallari":
  51. ^ Cumulative sales for "Hot Summer":
  52. ^ Cumulative sales for "I Go Crazy Because of You":
  53. ^ Cumulative sales for "Lonely":
  54. ^ Cumulative sales for "Back in Time":
  55. ^ Cumulative sales for "Starlight Moonlight":
  56. ^ Cumulative sales for "Can't Let You Go Even If I Die" in 2010:
  57. ^ Cumulative sales for "Roly-Poly" in 2011:
  58. ^ Cumulative sales for "Gangnam Style" in 2012:
  59. ^ Cumulative sales for "Shower of Tears" in 2013:
  60. ^ Cumulative sales for "Shower of Tears":
  61. ^ Cumulative sales for "Some" in 2014:
  62. ^ Cumulative sales for "Some":
  63. ^ Cumulative sales for "Bang Bang Bang" in 2015:
  64. ^ a b c d e C., Daniel (February 26, 2019). "Gaon's 관찰노트" [Gaon's Observation Notes] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  65. ^ "Download Chart – 2016 (see #1)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  66. ^ "Download Chart – 2017 (see #1)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  67. ^ Sales ranking for "Love Scenario" in 2018:
  68. ^ a b c d "South Korean single certifications" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA).
  69. ^ Sales ranking for "Gotta Go" in 2019:
  70. ^ "Download Chart – 2020 (see #1)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  71. ^ "Download Chart – 2021 (see #1)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  72. ^ Cumulative sales for "Tik Tok" in 2010:
  73. ^ Cumulative sales for "Tik Tok":
  74. ^ Cumulative sales for "Moves like Jagger" in 2011:
  75. ^ Cumulative sales for "Moves like Jagger" in 2012:
  76. ^ Sales references for "Call Me Maybe" in 2013:
  77. ^ Cumulative sales for "Let It Go" in 2014:
  78. ^ Cumulative sales for "Let It Go":
  79. ^ Cumulative sales for "Sugar" in 2015:
  80. ^ Cumulative sales for "I'm Not the Only One" in 2016:
  81. ^ Cumulative sales for "I'm Not the Only One":
  82. ^ Cumulative sales for "Shape of You" in 2017:
  83. ^ Sales ranking for "Havana" in 2018:
  84. ^ "Download Chart – 2019 (see #1)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  85. ^ "Download Chart – 2020 (see #10)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  86. ^ "Download Chart – 2021 (see #20)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved January 13, 2022.

External links[]

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