Adele, Ed Sheeran and David Bowie credited with helping to boost record UK music sales

The most popular albums by UK artists included Adele's 25 and Bowie's Blackstar

Adele performing in New Zealand (Getty)

Adele, Coldplay and David Bowie have been credited with helping the UK music industry enjoy record success overseas in 2016.

New figures show that British artists earned £365 million around the world for record labels last year: up 11 per cent on 2015, according to the BPI.

The most popular albums included Adele's record-breaking third album 25, Bowie's final album Blackstar, and Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams.

The top five countries for British music sales in 2016 were: The US, Germany, France, Australia and Canada.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said that the success would help the economy as Britain prepares to leave the EU.

"Music by brilliant British artists such as Ed Sheeran, Adele, David Bowie, Coldplay and Sam Smith is streamed and purchased the world over, boosting the UK's balance of payments," he said.

"The global digital steraming market represents a huge new opportunity. Government can help to seize that opportunity by making sure our artists can tour freely post-Brexit and that third countries [countries outside the EU] robustly protect music rights."

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