Online retail sales in the U.S. is expected to grow 11 percent in 2009, according to Forrester Research.

Forrester predicts the total to be spent online will be $156 billion, up from $141 billion last year, with growth decreasing from 13 percent in 2008 and 18 percent in 2007.

“The reason is obvious: falling consumer confidence due to the recession,” wrote Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru in the report, which will be released in its entirety on Monday as part of a five-year forecast.

The fact remains that online retail will continue to grow as shoppers look for bargains and convenience.

Even as companies continue to struggle, the important take-away is that the Web is continuing to grow,” Mulpuru said. “It’s taking wallet share away from the rest of the retail world.”

Mulpuru cited traditional stores like Best Buy and Macy’s whose online sale continue to increase despite lower in store sales.

“That’s pretty standard that the web divisions of all of these companies are faring much better than the rest of the business. Those are the ones grabbing disproportionate market share,” she said.

The total global Internet audience surpassed 1 billion users in December 2008, based on data from comScore World Metrix.

The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest share of global Internet users at 41 percent, followed by Europe (28%), North America (18%), Latin America (7%), and the Middle East & Africa (5%).

“Surpassing one billion global users is a significant landmark in the history of the Internet,” said Magid Abraham, President and Chief Executive Officer, comScore, Inc.

“It is a monument to the increasingly unified global community in which we live and reminds us that the world truly is becoming more flat. The second billion will be online before we know it, and the third billion will arrive even faster than that, until we have a truly global network of interconnected people and ideas that transcend borders and cultural boundaries.”

China had the largest online audience in the world in December 2008 with 180 million Internet users, making up nearly 18 percent of the total worldwide Internet audience, followed by the U.S. (16.2%), Japan (6%), Germany (3.7%) and the U.K. (3.6%).

The most popular property in the world in December was Google sites, with 777.9 million visitors, followed by Microsoft sites (647.9 million visitors, Yahoo sites (562.6 million visitors).

Facebook has seen significant growth in the past year climbing 127 percent to 222 million visitors, now ranks as the top social networking site globally and the seventh most popular property in the world.

Adults are much less likely than teens to have a profile on a social network site. About three in ten (35%) adult Internet users have a profile on a social networking site like MySpace or Facebook according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s December 2008 tracking survey.

Teenagers are roughly twice as likely as adults to use these sites: among teens 12 to 17 years old, 65 percent have a profile on an online social network. Despite comparatively lower levels of social network use, usage of social network sites by adults has increased significantly over the past four years.

Back in February of 2005, just 8 percent of adult Internet users had used a social network site. That percentage had risen to 16 percent by August 2006, and as of December 2008 it stands at 35 percent of online adults.

Among adults, MySpace is the most popular online social network. Half (50%) of adult social network users 18 and older are on MySpace, while 22 percent are on Facebook. Another 6 percent have an account on LinkedIn, 2 percent have an account on Yahoo, and 1 percent have accounts on YouTube and Classmates.com.

About two in five (43%) adult social network users have one profile online. Another quarter have two profiles online, 12 percent have three profiles online and 13 percent have four or more online profiles.

Men are more likely than women to have tow or more online profiles (54% vs. 47%). Social network users under the age of 45 are more likely to have multiple profiles than users 45 and older.

Online holiday spending outperformed offline spending in several key product categories according to comScore.

The top growing online product category for the season was sports & fitness, which grew 18 percent compared to a year ago. The category continues to benefit from consumers focus on health and fitness and consumers feeling more comfortable purchasing higher-price fit ness equipment, such as treadmills and elliptical machines, online.

The second fastest growing category was video games, consoles & accessories, which grew 14 percent on continued demand for popular consoles, such as the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Apparel & accessories, the only other product category with positive online growth, generated higher sales due to retailers heavy discounts and promotions, along with unfavorable weather across much of the country.

“For an online holiday shopping season that recorded a disappointing 3-percent decline in sales, a positive note is that e-commerce trends outperformed overall consumer spending in several product categories, which is to say that e-commerce continued to capture an increasing share of consumers’ wallet,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

“Clearly, 2008 was an extremely challenging time for many retailers, and the beginning of 2009 may not be much better. But when the consumer economy eventually does rebound, e-commerce is poised to benefit from its emergence as an important consumer sales channel.”