One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay helped UK artists account for more than one in seven of the albums sold globally during 2014, the BPI has said.
With 13.7% of worldwide sales, it’s the highest British share since the BPI began recording those figures in 2000.
Sales of albums by British artists rose in Canada, Australia, Italy and Sweden, as well as the US reports BBC.
Albums from Sam Smith and Pink Floyd also made the top ten list of the world’s biggest-sellers of 2014.
According to the BPI’s Music Market 2015 report, Taylor Swift topped the list of global recording artists, after shifting six million copies of her album 1989.
The figures, which take into account album sales, track sales and streams, put One Direction in second place and Sheeran in third.
The BPI also found that streaming had doubled in the UK during 2014.
Other British artists making a notable global impact in 2014 include London Grammar in France and Australia, James Blunt in Germany, Paloma Faith in Australia and Arctic Monkeys in countries including the US.
British artists accounted for 20.4% of sales in Australia, while in Italy it was 19.8%.
BPI and Brit Awards chief executive, Geoff Taylor, said the figures showed the UK is a “creative powerhouse”.
“Music is a tremendous exports success story for the UK – all around the world, fans are listening to the records we produce, supporting not only our balance of trade but a positive image for Britain overseas,” he said.