British artists claim lion's share of UK sales says BPI

Brit-winners Sam Smith and Paloma Faith helped UK artists dominate sales

British musicians enjoyed the biggest share of album sales in the UK in 2014, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has announced.

Artists including Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Paloma Faith had more than half (53.5%) of all UK sales, according to Official Charts Company data.

The last time British artists like Spice Girls, Oasis and The Verve dominated the chart in such numbers was 1997.

Just five US artists made the top 20.

Taylor Swift was the biggest international seller of 2014, followed by Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, Pharrell Williams and John Legend.

Jointly they helped make up the second biggest slice of the UK market with 24.3% of all sales with artists from Canada - including crooner Michael Buble - making up 2.8% of the market.

Faith, who won best British female at the Brit awards in February, was the only female artist in the top 10.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said: "The strongest performance by UK artists since the Britpop era shows that this country has great strength not only in talented musicians, but also in innovative record labels that invest in nurturing their careers."