Seoul, Jul 6 (IANS): South Korea's online shopping rate hit a new record high in May as people still refrained from stepping out amid the continued Covid-19 pandemic, official figures revealed on Tuesday.

Online shopping amounted to 16.06 trillion won ($14.2 billion ) in May, up 26 per cent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

It surpassed 16 trillion won for the first time amid the ongoing pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency.

Online food delivery services surged 62.2 per cent over the year to 2.1 trillion won in May, and the online purchase of food and beverage jumped 38.1 percent to 2 trillion won.

The online purchase of electronic and communication devices advanced 19.7 per cent in the cited month, and those for clothing and daily necessities gained 2.4 per cent and 13.3 per cent, respectively.

Shopping for farm goods, culture and leisure services, and travel and transport services also increased in double digits, and online shopping for auto accessories almost tripled in the month.

Mobile shopping through smartphones came in at 11.4 trillion won in May, up 31.6 per cent from the same month of last year.

It accounted for 71.2 per cent of the total online shopping.