Australians' Christmas spending habits have continued to climb despite apparent widespread economic hardship.
A new record was set for Australia Post's busiest peak period during the latest festive season, with almost 103 million parcels delivered in the two months leading up to December 31.
This figure was released on Thursday and marked a 3.1 per cent climb from 2023 according to its latest quarterly Inside Australian Online Shopping Report.
Health and wellness was the crowd favourite for presents, growing 20.5 per cent in the number of online purchases since the previous year.
That was followed closely by athleisure and tools & garden increasing 15.8 per cent and 14.6 per cent.
More than 2800 parcels were delivered every minute in November and December across a total of 7.6 million households, a 2.4 per cent increase from last year.
Northern Territory shopping habits were up the most at 12.4 per cent, while Tasmania's rose 11.4 per cent, which was followed by South Australia at 8.9 per cent.
Nationally, the three top suburbs for online shopping were the Queensland towns Mackay and Toowoomba, and Victoria's Point Cook.
Australia Post parcel, post, and ecommerce services executive general manager Gary Starr said its busiest day, December 9, resulted in more than three million parcels delivered.
"While we are proud of what we have achieved, we can always do better, and we'll reflect on this peak to start planning for the next," he said.
It comes after other insight into Australians' shopping habits by insurer Budget Direct.
A survey, which polled almost 1000 people, found 38 per cent making a purchase monthly online, 30 per cent fortnightly and 21 per cent weekly.
More than half of all respondents – 69 per cent – said they planned to continue or increase their online purchase in the next 12 months.
