Brits dominate 2011 album market

Adele's 21 was the biggest selling album of 2011

British artists had their biggest market share of the UK album market for 15 years in 2011, thanks to the likes of Adele, Ed Sheeran and Jessie J.

In total, British acts accounted for 52.7% of album sales last year, up from 48.9% in 2010.

The BPI said 56 of the top 100 albums came from Britons, according to Official Charts Company data.

US artists were responsible for about a third of total album sales with 32.7% - their lowest share since 1999.

Adele helped boost the UK's figures, after scoring the biggest-selling album of the year. 21 shifted 3,772,000 copies, nearly three times as many as its nearest competitor, Michael Buble's Christmas album.

However, the BPI said even without Adele's sales British artists would still have accumulated their biggest share of the market since 2007 thanks to Sheeran, Coldplay, Jessie J, Amy Winehouse and Olly Murs - whose albums all sold between 500,000 and 1m copies across the year.

Other acts whose albums made the top 100 included newer acts like Rumer, The Overtones, Plan B, The Vaccines, Katy B and Professor Green - and more established artists like Will Young, PJ Harvey and Kasabian.

'Challenging market'

Canada took the third largest share of the album market with 4.5% due to Buble, as well as R&B singer Drake and teen sensation Justin Bieber.

Barbados rose from sixth to fourth place, with Rihanna single-handedly responsible for 2.3% of the market.

Rihanna single-handedly gave Barbados as 2.3% album market share

In the UK singles market, British acts increased their overall share to 42.6% in 2011, up from 40.7% the year before.

Forty-four of the top 100 singles in 2011 were from Brits, including a string of 11 consecutive number one singles over the summer period.

US artists accounted for 43.8% of all singles sold in the UK.

"A string of great albums by British artists has delivered the strongest performance in the domestic albums market since the days of Britpop and the Spice Girls in 1997," BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said.

"Despite a challenging market, independent and major labels in the UK have kept the faith and continued to invest hundreds of millions in British talent.

"This success at home should provide a springboard for continued international success."