Taylor Swift ranks as best-selling global artist in 2019

FILE PHOTO: 2019 American Music Awards - Show - Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 24, 2019 - Taylor Swift accepts the Artist of the Year award. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Pop superstar Taylor Swift topped the list of the world's best-selling music artists in 2019, thanks to the success of her album "Lover," beating popular acts including Korean pop sensation BTS, recording industry group IFPI said on Monday.

It was the second time the 30-year-old singer-songwriter had led recorded music sales globally. The first was in 2014 when she debuted her album "1989."

"Lover" was Swift's seventh studio album and included hits such as the title track, a ballad, and the upbeat single "ME!"

FILE PHOTO: 2019 American Music Awards - Show - Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 24, 2019 - Taylor Swift performs. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Just behind Swift in the 2019 rankings was British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, followed by rapper Post Malone and teen singer Billie Eilish who swept the top Grammy Awards in January.

Queen, the rock band formed in London in 1970, landed in fifth place. The group's music enjoyed resurgence after the release of the Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody."

BTS, the popular South Korean boy band, finished in seventh place.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Richard Chang)