GENEVA: The Covid-19 pandemic provided a boost for e-commerce last year, but the digital windfall was not enjoyed equally across the board, a UN study found Monday.

"Although it will take some time to get the full picture of the impact of Covid-19 on e-commerce... a number of developments point to the strong rise in e-commerce in 2020," said the report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The study crunched data from seven countries -- Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Singapore, South Korea and the United States -- representing some two-thirds of online trade.

Online sales rose 59 percent in Australia, 46.7 percent in Britain, 32.4 precent in the United States and 14.6 percent in China.—AFP