Tech giant Amazon has surpassed $1 billion in revenue in Australia after an extraordinary surge in online sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Jeff Bezos-owned company’s global fourth quarter results delivered its largest quarter by revenue of all time, generating $125.56 billion in sales and bringing the full-year revenue to $386 billion, an increase of 38 per cent year-on-year.

In a location breakdown, Amazon revealed its Australian retailing arm, Amazon Commercial Services, posted $1.12 billion in net sales for 2020, a 99.4 per cent rise from the previous year.

Of its Australian revenue, $511 million stems from the sales of goods on Amazon’s online store – more than double the $218 million in sales made in 2019.

Revenue from Amazon’s third-party sellers grew to $126 million, while its related party revenue which offers marketing and support for affiliated companies jumped to $371 million.

Despite the pandemic-related sales surge, Amazon reported a net loss of $3.8 million for its Australian arm.

Amazon has been slowly but surely building its profile in Australia.

In 2020, the tech behemoth revealed it planned to build a 200,000sqm robotic fulfillment centre in Sydney’s west which will effectively double its fulfilment capacity in Australia.

During its 2020 earnings call, Amazon revealed its CEO and founder Jeff Bezos would be stepping down from the helm and would assume an executive chairman position in the third quarter of 2021.

Bezos will be replaced by Andy Jassy, who is currently the CEO of Amazon Web Services.