Stray Kids and WOODZ achieved remarkable results in the album and digital music sectors in 2025. According to the year-end summary data released by the Korea Music Content Association, Stray Kids ranked first in the album chart category. They sold 3.39 million copies of their full-length album "Karma," released in August. "Karma" is the only album released this year to have sold over 3 million copies.

Stray Kids also ranked third on the chart with their mini-album "Do It," released last month, which sold 2.24 million copies. The top 10 album chart included SEVENTEEN's "Happy Birthday" (2nd place, 2.55 million copies), ENHYPEN's "Desire: Unleash" (4th place, 2.16 million copies), TOMORROW X TOGETHER's "The Star Chapter: Together" (5th place, 1.8 million copies), Zerobaseone's "Never Say Never" (6th place, 1.45 million copies), IVE's "IVE Empathy" (7th place, 1.42 million copies), RISE's "Odyssey" (8th place, 1.41 million copies), NCT WISH's "Color" (9th place, 1.36 million copies), and ANTHEM's "Back to Life" (10th place, 1.32 million copies).

A total of 18 albums sold over 1 million copies this year, which is fewer than the 22 albums recorded in last year's annual chart. Jinwoo Kim, a music data journalist, analyzed, "Overall album sales for girl groups have decreased this year. The absence of a strong middle tier is particularly noticeable."

WOODZ topped the digital chart with "Drowning." The digital chart ranks songs by weighting streaming, downloads, BGM, and V-coloring sales. "Drowning," released by WOODZ in April 2023, is a song over two years old that surpassed new releases to claim the number one spot. After WOODZ's stage video gained attention, the song experienced a "reverse climb" phenomenon, maintaining a top position on major charts.

The top 10 digital chart included aespa's "Whiplash" (2nd place), the K-pop Demon Hunters (Kedehun) OST "Golden" (3rd place), Hwang Garam's "I Am a Firefly" (4th place), G-Dragon's "Home Sweet Home" (5th place), Jo Jazz's "Don't You Know?" (6th place), Rosé and Bruno Mars' "Apartment" (7th place), IVE's "Level Heart" (8th place), 10cm's "Reaching You" (9th place), and Boy Next Door's "Only I Love You Today" (10th place).

Notably, Hwang Garam's "I Am a Firefly," released in October 2024, is a reverse climb song that is a remake of a track originally released by Joongshik Band in 2020. Journalist Jinwoo Kim explained, "The market share of new songs in the digital music market is continuously declining. As the influence of algorithm recommendation systems grows, a structure is forming where songs by artists who have already been verified by the public or older songs remain stably at the top of the charts for a long time."

Meanwhile, the top ranks of the global chart, based on worldwide K-pop streaming usage, were dominated by the Kedehun OST. Five songs, including "Golden," "Soda Pop" (3rd place), "Your Idol" (4th place), "How It's Done" (6th place), and "What It Sounds Like" (8th place), entered the top 10, reflecting the popularity of Kedehun. Other songs in the global chart top 10 included Rosé and Bruno Mars' "Apartment" (2nd place), Jennie's "Like Jennie" (5th place), BLACKPINK's "Run" (7th place), aespa's "Whiplash" (9th place), and BTS Jimin's "Falling" (10th place).

The 2025 year-end summary data reflects the current status of the Korean music market, and the achievements of Stray Kids and WOODZ indicate the continuous growth and transformation of K-pop. They are expected to maintain an important position in the music market going forward.