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Korea’s inflation rises above 3% in one month in February

Collected: 2024.03.06

Distributed: 2024.03.07

Source: Go Direct

[Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

South Korea‘s inflation rate hit 3.1 percent in February after falling below 3 percent in the first month of 2024 as prices rose across the board from international oil to food.

According to data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the country’s consumer price index (CPI) gained 3.1 percent year over year in February.

Inflation rate had remained above 3 percent between August and December last year before falling to 2.8 percent in January 2024. The rate, however, shot above 3 percent in just one month in February.

Prices of agricultural goods rose 20.9 percent, pushing up overall inflation by 0.8 percentage point.

The decline in petroleum prices slowed down to 1.5 percent in February from the previous month’s 5 percent decline amid rising international oil prices.

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

Prices of services gained 2.5 percent, with prices of public service rising 2 percent and individual service 3.4 percent.

The cost of dining out also went up 3.8 percent, the smallest gain since October 2021.

Living necessaries price index, which is composed of items with high purchase frequency, increased 3.7 percent. After peaking at 4.5 percent in October 2023, the index slowed to 3.4 percent in January, but expanded again in four months.

The fresh food index jumped 20 percent, driven by a 41.2 percent increase in fresh fruits, the largest increase since September 1991.

By item, prices of apples jumped 71 percent and those of tangerines rose 78.1 percent.

Prices of fresh vegetables climbed 12.3 percent, marking the largest increase since a 13.9 percent increase in March 2023.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy factors, rose 2.5 percent.

By Pulse

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