Online shopping in South Korea expanded by more than 20 percent in January from a year earlier as the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic drove more people to make purchases via e-commerce platforms.

According to Statistics Korea on Friday, 15-point-six trillion won was spent on online shopping in January, up 22-point-four percent on-year. The monthly transaction value has stayed over 15 trillion won for the third straight month.

Mobile shopping accounted for 70-point-five percent of online shopping, hitting a fresh high since records were kept in 2013. The value of mobile transactions jumped by 29-point-two percent on-year to ten-point-62 trillion won. 

Meanwhile, online food deliveries spiked by 90-point-three percent on-year, totaling two-point-24 trillion won, while purchases of home appliances, electronics and telecommunication devices surged 65-point-three percent.

On the other hand, transactions for cultural and leisure services plummeted by 79-point-six percent year-over-year, while those for travel services dropped 68-point-two percent, reflecting the impact of the pandemic on in-person service sectors.