Canadians went on an internet shopping spree in 2005, spending $7.9 billion on goods and services, including travel arrangements, reading material and electronics, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

Nearly seven million adults bought something online in 2005, representing 41 per cent of Canadians who used the internet, according to the federal agency's new Canadian internet use survey.

The purchases represent just a fraction of the $762 billion in personal spending in the survey period, Statistics Canada said.

While the figures suggest online spending has more than doubled from the previous survey, which showed $3.2 billion in transactions in 2003, the figures cannot be directly compared, Statistics Canada said.

"The survey instrument has changed so that a direct comparison cannot be made between 2003 and 2005," the federal agency's Larry McKeown told CBC News Online.

The methods used in the latest survey were changed to conform more closely to international standards, Statistics Canada said.

In August, the agency released its first part of the latest internet use survey. It found about two-thirds of Canadians — about 7.9 million families or an estimated 16.8 million adults — with home internet access went online daily.