If you are wondering why that online order you placed for Christmas hasn’t arrived yet, it’s not because of the snow but because we, as a nation, are spending more of our hard-earned cash online than ever before.

New figures released to Pocket-lint show that in the UK has spent a staggering £57.8 billion online in 2010, confirming what many have expected - online is booming while the high street is dying.

The numbers, as collated by the Interactive Media in Retail Group - the leading industry body for global e-retailing - represent a 16 per cent increase from 2009’s £49.8 billion spend, a tripling of the total from just 5 years ago and an astonishing £1,830 rung up on virtual check outs every second of every day throughout the year.

In November, according to a spokesperson at the British Retail Consortium, online sales accounted for around 10 per cent of total retails in the UK, up from its usual 6-7 per cent.

With only £80 million recorded in 2000, our appetite for shopping from our sofas is growing at an amazing pace, with little sign of stopping. While the high streets have suffered under bad weather, low footfall and recession hit closures, the likes of Amazon and Play.com will see an estimated total online spend of £17.4 billion in the fourth quarter of this year. That’s up from £15 billion in Q4 2009 while in December alone we’ve spent £6.4 billion online.

According to recent research by the office of national statistics in 2010, 30.1 million adults in the UK (60 per cent) accessed the Internet every day or almost every day. That means each and every one of those surfers has theoretically spent almost £200 buying goods online, with around £60 of that total in the last 3 months.

“The online market keeps on growing despite the tough economic climate as it is able to offer the kind of value, convenience and accessibility that consumers look for in such times”, David Smith, managing director at IMRG, said.

“We are estimating that a record £6.4bn will be spent online during December with the looming VAT increase also expected to trigger a surge in big-ticket sales activity”.

Have you been buying your Christmas presents online? Let us know in the comments below.