Combined sales of the country's three major convenience store operators surpassed those of three large-scale discount stores.

According to data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday, the country's three major convenience store operators -- GS25, CU and 7-Eleven -- accounted for 15-point-nine percent of total sales within the country's distribution industry last year.

The country's three major retailers -- Emart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus -- took up 15-point-seven percent.

The ministry's data is compiled from 12 of the country's distributors, namely three department stores, three discount scores, three convenience stores, four super supermarkets and Coupang, an e-commerce company.

Among offline distributors, convenience stores accounted for 30-point-seven percent of total sales last year, coming in second to department stores, which took up the largest portion at 32-point-nine percent. Discount stores came in third with 30-point-four percent.

Discount stores maintained the top spot in offline sales until 2019, but department stores saw their sales jump over 24 percent on-year last year to climb to the top spot.

Sales in convenience stores increased by six-point-eight percent last year from a year earlier, while those of discount stores dropped by two-point-three percent on-year.