South Korea’s consumer price index rose 2.9% in September from a year earlier and 0.3% from August, according to Statistics Korea. The index reached 120.43, based on 2020 prices. The annual increase was slower than August’s 3.1%, but the monthly rise shows that prices continued to move higher during September.
The headline result reflected sharply different movements across categories. Agricultural, livestock and fisheries products fell 0.3% from a year earlier, extending their decline for a second consecutive month. Fresh food prices also fell 3.3% year on year, led by an 11.1% decrease in fresh fruit prices, while fresh fish and shellfish rose 5.0%.
Fuel costs moved in the opposite direction. Petroleum products rose 14.8% year on year as Dubai crude increased to an average of $113.7 per barrel from $88.8 in August. The official data also showed that electricity, gas and water, industrial goods and services all contributed to the annual increase in consumer prices.
Underlying measures were mixed. The index excluding food and energy fell 0.1% from the previous month but rose 2.8% from a year earlier, while the index excluding agricultural products and petroleum rose 0.2% month on month and 2.7% year on year. The cost-of-living index increased 0.7% from August and 2.5% annually, with food up 1.6% and nonfood items up 3.1%.