SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Direct overseas purchase by South Koreans through online order jumped in the first half on strong demand for Chinese products, customs office data showed Friday.
The direct purchase of foreign goods amounted to 1.32 billion U.S. dollars in the January-June period, up 35 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Korea Customs Service.
The growth rate was about three times faster than the total rising rate in imports of 13 percent.
Direct purchase for Chinese products increased rapidly. The number of direct buying of Chinese electronic products was 882,000 in the first half, surpassing last year's figure of 880,000.
The best-selling product in the direct overseas purchase was the U.S. health functional food, whose direct purchase reached 2.6 million U.S. dollars in the first half. It was up 33 percent from a year earlier.
China's market share advanced to 23 percent in the first half from 17 percent a year earlier, while the U.S. share fell from 56 percent to 53 percent in the same period.
By age, South Koreans in their 30s was the biggest direct buyer of overseas products, accounting for 47 percent of the total. It was followed by those in their 40s with 24 percent and those in their 20s with 20 percent.
