Adele is on song as British acts dominate the album market

(Rex Features)

Record-breaking star Adele helped British acts dominate the album market in the UK with their highest share of sales for 15 years.

New figures show that Brit acts accounted for almost 53% of album sales in 2011 – up 4% on the previous 12 months.

The astonishing success of Adele, pictured, with her second album 21 – and the kick-start it gave to her debut – led the charge.

But even without her, sales would have been the highest since 2007, with acts such as Coldplay, Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, Olly Murs and the late Amy Winehouse among those who shifted more than half a million albums.

Brits made up 56 of the top 100 biggest-selling album artists, including acts as varied as Plan B, The Vaccines, Kasabian and actor Hugh Laurie.

US artists represented almost a third of sales, the lowest share since 1999, but accounting for the second biggest share of acts. Canada was third while Barbados was fourth, solely on the back of Rihanna's success.

In the singles market, the US had the upper hand with almost 44% of UK sales, while British stars sold nearly 43%.

The figures were compiled by the Official Charts Company.

British Phonographic Industry chief executive Geoff Taylor said: "A string of great albums by British artists has delivered the strongest performance in the domestic market since the days of Brit Pop and the Spice Girls in 1997."