The Gaon Album Chart was a South Korean record chart that ranked the best-selling albums and EPs in South Korea. It was part of the Gaon Music Chart, which launched in February 2010. The data are compiled by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Music Content Industry Association based upon weekly and monthly physical album sales by major South Korean distributors such as LOEN Entertainment, KT Music, Sony Music Korea, Warner Music Korea, Universal Music and Mnet Media.
In 2011, there were 44 albums which reached number one on the weekly chart. Girls' Generation, Big Bang, and JYJ topped the chart with three different albums each, more than any other act. CNBLUE, Kim Hyun-joong, and Super Junior each had two number one albums on the chart. The longest chart run on the weekly chart at number one was Girls' Generation's The Boys and Super Junior's Mr. Simple; both spent four weeks at the top of the chart. On the monthly chart, TVXQ and Big Bang had the most album number-ones, with two each. Girls' Generation's The Boys topped the monthly chart for three consecutive months from October to December.
Overall, Girls' Generation's The Boys was Gaon's best-selling album of 2011, selling 385,348 copies.