BTS has officially surpassed themselves. After a 3-year and 9-month hiatus – what fans have called the ‘military white period’ – the group made their long-awaited comeback on March 20 with their fifth full-length studio album Arirang, and the numbers from Day 1 alone are nothing short of staggering.
According to Dispatch and other sources, here are the 10 records the highly-anticipated K-pop album broke within hours of its release.
Record 1: 3.98 million copies sold on Day 1
As per Hanteo Chart data, Arirang sold 3.98 million copies on its very first day of release – the highest first-day sales figure in the history of the chart, surpassing every record previously set by any artist.
Record 2: Surpasses their own first-week record in a single day
To put the 3.98 million figure in perspective, this single day of sales alone surpassed the entire first-week sales record previously held by BTS themselves – their fourth studio album Map of the Soul: 7 had sold 3.37 million copies across a full seven days. Arirang did it in one.
Record 3: Million seller in 10 minutes
As per Dispatch, Arirang crossed one million copies sold – achieving millionaire seller status – within just 10 minutes of its release, making it the fastest album in Hanteo Chart history to reach the milestone.
Record 4: iTunes Top Albums chart number one in 90+ countries
The dominance extended far beyond physical sales. Arirang topped the iTunes Top Albums chart in 90+ countries and regions on release day, including Italy, Mexico, and Sweden – a sweep that underlines the group’s truly global reach even after nearly four years away.
Record 5: Biggest first-day streams for a pop album by a group in Apple Music history
The album shattered the all-time record for first-day streams on Apple Music for a group pop album as BTS fans – also known as ARMY – celebrated these achievements across social media platforms.
Record 6: Title track Swim tops iTunes Top Songs in 90 countries
The album’s title track Swim simultaneously topped the iTunes Top Songs chart in 90 countries and regions as of 9 AM KST on March 21 – a figure that surpassed even the album’s own country count.
Record 7: Top 14 sweep on Korean domestic charts
On domestic charts, Swim went straight to number one on both Melon and Bugs real-time charts. What made it even more remarkable was that other album tracks simultaneously occupied the remaining positions – with BTS songs filling the top 14 spots on the charts in a clean, unbroken sweep.
Record 8: Swim music video tops YouTube trending in 70 countries
The Swim music video topped YouTube’s trending music chart in 70 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, and France – capping off a Day 1 performance that left the K-pop world, and the wider music industry, completely stunned.
Record 9: Fastest 2026 MV to reach 30 million views
The music video currently has 36 million views and counting – becoming the most watched most-watched 2026 music video in its first day, with over 10 million views within the first 4 hours and 33 million views within the first 24.
Record 10: Most liked 2026 video
The Swim MV accumulated over 4.5 – 4.8 million likes in the first 24 hours, the highest for any video in 2026. With appreciation flooding every social media platform, it is clear that the group’s popularity has remained steady if not soared even higher post the military service.