ATEEZ Leads Billboard World Albums Chart As K-Pop Acts Crowd Top Spots

ATEEZ returned to the center of the global album conversation this week, taking No. 1 on Billboard’s World Albums chart for the week ending July 11 with the group’s new mini album GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5. The result gave the act the headline position on a ranking that was unusually dense with K-pop and Korean pop-adjacent releases, turning the chart into a snapshot of how broad the genre’s international album market has become.

The same release also opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, according to the chart report, adding a wider U.S. market milestone to ATEEZ’s World Albums lead. That combination matters because the World Albums chart can reflect genre-specific and international demand, while the Billboard 200 places those sales and streams inside the larger American album field. For ATEEZ, appearing strongly on both lists signals not just loyal fandom activity, but the group’s ability to compete in the broader weekly album race.

A Crowded Top Five

ATEEZ was not alone near the top. CORTIS held No. 2 with GREENGREEN, extending the EP’s chart run to nine weeks on World Albums while also remaining on the Billboard 200. The group’s debut EP COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES also appeared lower on the World Albums chart, a notable sign that listeners are continuing to engage with older material while the newer project keeps momentum.

ZEROBASEONE followed at No. 3 as Ascend- entered the World Albums chart after its physical release in the United States. Physical availability can still reshape chart performance for K-pop releases, particularly when international fans have been waiting for formats that count in specific markets. The debut places ZEROBASEONE directly among more established chart names and gives the group a timely boost in a competitive summer window.

LE SSERAFIM’s PUREFLOW ranked No. 4 in its sixth week, while ILLIT’s MAMIHLAPINATAPAI climbed back to No. 5 in its ninth week. Those placements show how newer-generation girl groups are continuing to hold space on global album lists beyond opening-week spikes. In a market where attention moves quickly, staying inside the top five several weeks into a release cycle can be as important as a splashy debut.

Catalog Strength Still Matters

One of the most striking details was the continued presence of BTS catalog titles. The group’s 2022 anthology album Proof landed at No. 6 in its 212th week on the chart, while the Japanese album Map of the Soul: 7 ~The Journey~ also remained on the ranking. Those numbers underline how BTS’s back catalog continues to function like an active release in global consumption, even years after the albums first arrived.

Stray Kids also showed the value of sustained fandom listening. Their 2025 album KARMA rose to No. 7 in its 45th week, while the mixtape DO IT appeared at No. 10 in its 32nd week. When multiple older projects from the same act stay visible, it suggests that listeners are not only following new promotional cycles but also moving through a group’s wider discography.

aespa’s LEMONADE placed No. 8 in its fifth week, keeping the group in the upper half of the ranking. BOYNEXTDOOR’s first full-length album HOME reached No. 13 in its third week, while NewJeans’ 2023 EP Get Up held No. 18 after 147 weeks. TXT’s 7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns and ENHYPEN’s THE SIN : VANISH also remained on the list, rounding out a chart where rookies, current leaders and established touring acts all appeared together.

What The Chart Says About The Market

The latest World Albums chart is less about one isolated win than about the structure of K-pop’s global audience. ATEEZ’s top placement gives the week a clear leader, but the rest of the ranking shows several different kinds of momentum: new U.S. physical releases, long-running catalog albums, girl group endurance, and boy group fandoms that keep older projects active.

For fans, the result is another reminder that international chart performance is no longer reserved for one or two dominant acts at a time. The field is crowded, and the competition now stretches across generations, labels and release strategies. For the industry, that makes each chart week more revealing: it shows which albums can launch loudly, which ones can keep selling after promotions slow down, and which artists have built listening habits that last far beyond comeback week.