These Are The 15 Best-Selling K-Pop Groups Of The Third Generation

The third generation of K-Pop has been one of, if not the, most successful so far in terms of album sales, with groups like BTS, EXO, SEVENTEEN, TWICE, and others well into the millions. There are other somewhat less well-known internationally but still quite popular groups that are also from the same generation in K-Pop that deserve to be acknowledged as well, so here’s a list of the top 15 best-selling K-Pop groups of the third generation!

15. NU’EST

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NU’EST debuted on March 5, 2012 with the single “Face”. In the 9 years that they’ve been promoting, they’ve sold 1.10 million album copies, the best-selling of which is Happily Ever After, released in April 2019 with 270.2k total sales.

14. ASTRO

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ASTRO entered the K-Pop scene on February 23, 2016 with the sinlge “Hide & Seek”. In that time, they’ve sold 1.13 million total album sases, their best-selling of which is the April 2021 album All Yours, currently at 359.0k total sales.

13. VIXX

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VIXX originally debuted on May 24, 2012 with the song “Super Hero”, and in the exactly 9 years since then, the group has sold 1.52 million albums! Their best-selling one, released in April 2018, is Eau de VIXX with 1.44 million sales.

12. Red Velvet

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Red Velvet made their debut on August 1, 2014 with the song “Happiness”. To date, they’ve made a total of 1.55 million album sales, and their best-selling one is The ReVe Festival: Finale, which came out in December 2019 and has had over 174.5k sales.

11. MONSTA X

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MONSTA X debuted on May 14, 2015 with the song “Trespass”, and has now sold a total of 2.23 million albums. Their best-selling one to date is Fatal Love, which was released in November 2020 and has made 287.2k sales.

10. BLACKPINK

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BLACKPINK made their start in the K-Pop industry on August 8, 2016 with the songs “BOOMBAYAH” and “Whistle”. In their almost five years, they’ve sold a total of 2.52 million albums, with their best-selling one being the October 2020 release The Album at 1.37 million sales.

9. NCT 127

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NCT 127 debuted on July 7, 2016 with the single “Fire Truck”. Since then, the NCT sub-unit has sold 3.04 million albums, with their best-selling one being the March 2020 album Neo Zone which has reached 958.1k sales.

8. NCT

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NCT made their first release as a whole unit on April 18, 2018 with the song “Black on Black”. They’ve now sold 3.32 million albums, with their October 2020 release Resonance Pt. 1 being the top-selling at 1.51 million unit sales.

7. NCT Dream

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NCT Dream debuted into the K-Pop industry on August 25, 2016 with the single “Chewing Gum”, and since then has made a total of 3.32 million total album sales. Their best-selling one is their Hot Sauce album, released this month, with over 1.6 million sales so far.

6. Wanna One

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Wanna One debuted on August 7, 2017 with the song “Energetic”, and promoted as a group until their planned disbandment on January 27, 2019. In that time, they made 3.68 million album sales, and their best-selling one was 1×1=1 (To Be One), which was their debut album that made 1.46 million sales.

5. GOT7

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GOT7 started their career in the K-Pop industry on January 20, 2014 with the single “Girls Girls Girls”. To date, they’ve sold 3.96 million total albums, with their best-selling one being DYE, released in April 2020 and now with 454.4k sales.

4. TWICE

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TWICE debuted on October 20, 2015 with the song “Like Ooh-Ahh”, and since then has sold 5.89 million total albums. Their best-selling album is More & More, which came out in June 2020 and has made 583.9k total sales.

3. SEVENTEEN

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SEVENTEEN made their debut on May 26, 2015 with the song “Adore U”. In their nearly six years in the industry, they’ve sold a total of 6.54 million albums, and their best-selling one is their June 2020 album Heng:garae with 1.43 million sales.

2. EXO

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EXO debuted on April 8, 2012 with the single “Mama”, and with now over nine years in the industry they’ve made 11.88 million total album sales. Their best-selling album is Don’t Mess Up My Tempo, released in November 2018 with 1.98 million sales.

1. BTS

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BTS debuted into the K-Pop industry on June 13, 2013 with the single “No More Dream”. With almost 8 years into their career, they’ve made 27.72 million total album sales, and their best-selling one is Map of the Soul: 7 with 4.48 million total sales.