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Online shopping in Korea advanced 8.2 percent on-year in October as demand for travel and transportation services increased on eased COVID-19 restrictions, data showed Thursday.

The value of online shopping transactions came to 17.71 trillion won ($13.5 billion) in October, compared with 16.3 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices increased 7.7 percent on-year to 12.9 trillion won.

Mobile shopping accounted for 73 percent of total online shopping, down 0.3 percentage point from last year.

Purchases of travel and transportation services online came to 1.7 trillion won in October, up 84 percent from a year earlier as Korea and major countries lifted virus-related rules.

Online shopping for food and beverages also climbed 13.1 percent on-year to 2.26 trillion won in October.

In contrast, online transactions of food delivery services fell 7.6 percent on-year to 2 trillion won, as more people dined out. (Yonhap)