Japanese band Arashi edged out Taylor Swift for last year's best-selling album across the globe, according to the The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the worldwide recorded music industry. Arashi’s hits compilation 5x20 All the BEST!! 1999-2019, released in June, sold 3.3 million global units compared to 3.2 million for Swift’s Lover release, the IFPI reports.

"Arashi are an iconic Japanese band that have built a huge and very dedicated fanbase across Asia throughout their twenty-year music career," said Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI. "We would like to congratulate the artists on winning this award which is testament to their incredibly strong catalogue and career longevity."

The IFPI Global Album Chart combines global sales of physical and digital albums to rank the best-selling albums of the year. The chart includes physical and digital album unit sales only. This is the third award from IFPI’s global charts following the announcements that Swift was the best-selling artist and Billie Eilish's "bad guy" was top digital single for the year.

Second-place finisher Swift released Lover in August and it promptly topped the charts in the U.S., U.K, Australia, Canada and other markets. The third-biggest release of the year belonged to South Korea's BTS, with MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA. The EP marked the first time a Korean act topped the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and the U.S.

Rounding out the top five were the Lady Gaga-fueled soundtrack for A Star Is Born and Billie Eilish’s breakout When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, with 1.2 million units sold, respectively.

IFPI top-selling 2019 albums:

1. ARASHI // 5x20 All the BEST!! 1999-2019 // 3.3 million

2. Taylor Swift // Lover // 3.2 million

3. BTS //MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA // 2.5 million

4. Lady Gaga // A Star is Born OST // 1.2 million

5. Billie Eilish // When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? // 1.2 million

6. Queen // Bohemian Rhapsody // 1.2 million

7. Ed Sheeran // No.6 Collaborations Project // 1.1 million

8. Ariana Grande // thank u, next // 1 million

9. Rammstein // Rammstein // 900,000

10. The Beatles // Abbey Road // 800,000