South Korea's retail sales rose to a 10-month high in October as tax cuts and a large discount event propped up consumer spending, a government report showed Tuesday.  

Retail sales topped 32.28 trillion won ($27.87 billion) in October, up a sharp 6.5 percent from 30.29 trillion won a year earlier the report by Statistics Korea showed. The on-year increase is the highest reached since the 8.5 percent spike reported for February 2012.

The number also represents a 3.5 percent increase from 31.17 trillion won reached in September.

"Domestic demand was fueled by excise tax cuts that went into effect on Aug. 26, as well as the Korea Black Friday discount sales, which stimulated consumer spending," a statistical agency official said.

He added that the three-day holiday, which fell from Oct. 9 through Oct. 11, to celebrate the Korean alphabet helped push up retail sales.

Reflecting this, sales of consumer electronics, computers and mobile phones surged 19.3 percent on-year, with numbers for furniture hitting 10.6 percent. Demand for clothing gained 9 percent with numbers for shoes and bags rising 6.6 percent on-year.

On the other hand, sales of books and stationeries were down 2.8 percent.

Department stores and large discount outlets posted solid gains of 11.5 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, with supermarkets and convenience stores all posting strong sales gains last month compared with the year before. Supermarket sales were up 2.3 percent, with gains for convenience stores hitting 41.5 percent.

Convenience store sales were buoyed by a hike in cigarette prices that were marked up on Jan. 1.

Online shopping sales, which have been growing swiftly in recent years, surged 20.6 percent on-year to just under 4.77 trillion won in October on brisk demand for food products, cosmetics and fashion accessories like shoes and bags. This number represents a 9 percent gain from 4.37 trillion won reached in September.

Online shopping accounted for 14.8 percent of all retail sales in the one-month period.

Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, meanwhile, soared 59.3 percent on-year to 2.28 trillion won, accounting for 47.9 percent of all online sales in October, according to the report. (Yonhap)