Korea e-commerce hits high of 10.62 trillion won in November

The total value of online shopping in Korea reached a record high in November, government data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of Koreans are using computers or mobile devices to buy things ranging from clothes to electronic goods. Total online transactions reached 10.62 trillion won ($9.5 billion) in November, up 22.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The reading marked the highest amount since January 2001 when the statistics office started collecting data on online shopping.

Sales of electronic goods and computers rose 22.7 percent on year to 1.68 trillion won, and demand for clothes jumped 10.4 percent to 1.45 trillion won in November, while online sales of food and beverages surged 32.3 percent to 911.4 billion won.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets soared 28 percent on year to a record 6.59 trillion won, accounting for 62.1 percent of all online sales in November.

Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world, with one of the highest smartphone penetration rates.

The number of smartphones in Korea came to 50.5 million as of October, compared with 48.3 million a year earlier, according to separate government data.