Seoul: Online shopping sales in South Korea witnessed an 8.6 percent increase in January compared to the previous year, propelled by rising demand in food-related services.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the value of online shopping transactions reached 24.1 trillion won (US$16.5 billion) in January, marking an increase of 1.9 trillion won from the same month last year. This figure represents the third-largest monthly total since the government began collecting such data in 2017, as reported by the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Sales of food delivery services and online grocery delivery saw notable growth, with increases of 10.9 percent and 7.7 percent on-year, respectively. This surge is attributed primarily to promotions by food delivery platforms. Meanwhile, spending on travel and transportation services rose by 8.9 percent on-year, linked to a spike in train and flight bookings ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

Conversely, there was a 6 percent decrease in online sales of agricultural products, such as meat and fisheries, when compared to the previous year. Purchases completed through smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices increased by 8 percent on-year, totaling 18.86 trillion won. Mobile-based shopping represented 78.2 percent of total online sales in January.