A combo photo of Taylor Swift and BTS.

South Korean boyband BTS have been crowned the best-selling global artist of 2020.

The K-pop hitmakers beat American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift to the honour, which was bestowed by the global music body IFPI.

BTS released two albums in 2020, Map of the Soul: 7 and Be, both of which topped charts in many countries around the globe.

They are the first act whose songs are not predominantly sung in English to claim the crown, and the first artist from outside of the West.

Global sales, downloads and streams are all taken into account when the IFPI calculates the winner, covering the entirety of each artist’s back catalogue.

Swift also released two albums last year, the folk-infused Folklore, which came out in July, and Evermore, a second surprise release which dropped in December.

The artist is followed in the rankings by Canadian hip-hop star Drake, with The Weeknd and Billie Eilish taking the fourth and fifth spots.

Swift also released two albums last year, the folk-infused Folklore, which came out in July, and Evermore, a second surprise release which dropped in December.

The artist is followed in the rankings by Canadian hip-hop star Drake, with The Weeknd and Billie Eilish taking the fourth and fifth spots.