March Consumer Prices Rise 1.5%... Largest Increase in 1 Year and 2 Months (Update)

Consumer Prices in the 1% Range for Two Consecutive Months for the First Time Since the Rapid Spread of COVID-19
Agricultural, Livestock, and Fishery Products Up 13.7%... Green Onion Up 305.8%
Impact of Rising International Oil Prices... Industrial Product Prices Rise for the First Time in 11 Months

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The consumer price index (CPI) in March rose 1.5% compared to the previous year, marking the largest increase in one year and two months. This is the first time since the spread of COVID-19 that the CPI has remained in the 1% range for two consecutive months. Industrial product prices stopped declining for the first time in a year due to the impact of rising international oil prices, while prices of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products such as fruits and vegetables continued to rise.

According to the 'March Consumer Price Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 2nd, the consumer price index last month recorded 107.16 (2015=100), up 1.5% from the same month last year. This is the highest rate of increase since January last year (1.5%). The consumer price inflation rate stayed in the 0% range from October (0.1%), November (0.6%), December (0.5%) last year to January this year (0.6%), then rose to the 1% range for two consecutive months in February (1.1%) and March (1.5%). This is the first time since March last year, when COVID-19 rapidly spread, that the consumer price index has risen in the 1% range for two consecutive months.

Prices of goods rose 2.5% compared to a year ago. Agricultural, livestock, and fishery products increased by 13.7%, continuing a double-digit rise, though the rate of increase narrowed compared to the previous month (16.2%). Agricultural products rose 19.2%, livestock products 10.2%, and fishery products 1.8%.

Due to poor crop conditions caused by typhoon weather conditions, green onion prices soared 305.8%. This is the largest increase since April 1994 (821.4%). Prices of apples (55.3%) and eggs (39.6%) also showed an upward trend, and the burden of grocery prices such as rice (13.1%) and domestic beef (11.5%) continued to increase.

Industrial product prices, which had been declining, rose 0.7% due to the impact of rising international oil prices and increased prices of processed foods, marking the first increase since April last year (0.7%). Electricity, water, and gas prices fell 5.0%.

Service prices rose 0.7% compared to a year ago. Personal services increased 1.8%, while public services fell 2.0%. Among personal services, dining-out prices rose 1.5%, recording the highest increase since September 2019 (1.4%). Price increases in cafeteria meals and sashimi contributed to this rise.

Rent increased 1.0% compared to a year ago. The increase rates for jeonse (long-term deposit rent) and monthly rent were 1.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Among these, monthly rent recorded the highest increase since November 2014 (0.6%).

The index excluding agricultural products and petroleum products rose 1.0%, and the index excluding food and energy rose 0.6%. The living cost index increased 1.5% compared to a year ago, and the fresh food index jumped 16.5%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.