South Korean retail sales were up by more than 9 per cent in November from a year earlier, led by strong demand for products from online malls and convenience stores, new government data shows.

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy figures show that the combined sales of 26 online and offline retailers stood at KW10.68 trillion (US$9.97 billion) for the month, up 9.4 per cent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the sales of 13 offline retailers over the same period rose 5.4 per cent, the biggest gain since the start of the year, as customers were attracted to convenience stores and discount chains.

Among offline outlets, convenience stores showed the highest growth, attributed to the rising number of single households with more people buying food and daily necessities from neighbourhood stores.

With sales flat for discount chains, convenience stores saw 10.2 per cent gains and department stores an 8.5 per cent rise in sales.

More people were buying food and clothes on the internet, resulting in 13 major online stores and marketplaces gaining 16.7 per cent in sales year on year.