Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in 2021, led by strong demand for food delivery services and electronics amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday.

The value of online shopping transactions stood at 192.9 trillion won ($160 billion) last year, up 21 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It marked the largest value since the statistics agency began compiling related data in 2001.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices rose 27.6 percent on-year to 138.2 trillion won. Mobile shopping accounted for 71.6 percent of the total value of online shopping.

The COVID-19 pandemic boosted online shopping as more people refrained from visiting offline stores to avoid virus infections.

Online purchase of food delivery services, foodstuffs and electronics remained solid last year amid spikes in COVID-19 cases, according to the agency.

Online transactions of food delivery services jumped 48.2 percent on-year to 25.7 trillion won, and those of food and beverages rose 26.3 percent to 24.9 trillion won.

Online purchases of electronics gained 25.8 percent to 22.8 trillion won on the back of solid demand by stay-at-home consumers.

In December last year, the value of online shopping transactions rose 15.8 percent on-year to an all-time high of 18.4 trillion won. Purchases through mobile devices gained 22.9 percent to 13.6 trillion won. (Yonhap)