SINGAPORE, June 24, 2008 (AFP) - Singaporeans and South Koreans are the region's biggest online spenders, a survey by MasterCard said Tuesday.

Singapore online shoppers spent US$770.70 (S$1054.00)  over a three-month period, followed by South Koreans who spent US$707.50 (S$968.00) , the survey found.

It studied the behaviour of more than 4,000 people with bank accounts who used the Internet at least once a week, in Hong Kong, mainland China, Australia, Japan, India and Thailand as well as Singapore and South Korea.

Online shoppers in Thailand spent the least, at US$406.30 (S$556.00) over the three months, while those in Japan spent US$581.00 (S$795.00), the survey said.

Shoppers in the region averaged 3.1 purchases during the period, it said.

It added that 63 percent of survey respondents said they made purchases online. That figure was even higher in Japan and South Korea, where 83 percent said they shopped using the Internet.

The MasterCard study said that by 2010 China's online shopping population is projected to increase to 480 million, contributing 58.6 percent of the region's total online shopping population, up from 49.9 percent now.

India's online shopping population is also set to increase rapidly and is poised to overtake Japan and Korea in terms of the share of over regional Internet shoppers, MasterCard said.