May Consumer Prices Rise 5.4%... Highest in 13 Years and 9 Months (Update)

Published 03 Jun.2022 08:13(KST)

Updated 03 Jun.2022 08:31(KST)

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[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The domestic consumer price inflation rate surged to the mid-5% range for the first time in over 14 years.

According to the consumer price trend for May announced by Statistics Korea on the 3rd, the consumer price index last month was 107.56 (2020=100), up 5.4% compared to the same period last year.

This is the highest inflation rate in 13 years and 9 months since August 2008 (5.6%).

The consumer price inflation rate rose to the 3% range in October last year and maintained that level for five months, then increased to the 4% range in March (4.1%) and April (4.8%) this year, before surpassing 5% last month.

Last month, prices showed a sharp increase across all categories of goods and services. In particular, petroleum products and other industrial goods, agricultural and marine products, and electricity, gas, and water prices led the rise in inflation.

Looking at goods prices, industrial products including petroleum products (34.8%) and processed foods (7.6%) rose by 8.3%. The contribution of industrial products to the inflation rate was 2.86 percentage points.

Agricultural and marine products also increased by 4.2%, centered on livestock products (12.1%). Pork (20.7%) and imported beef (27.9%) surged sharply.

Electricity, gas, and water prices rose by 9.6%. The inflation rates for electricity and city gas prices both recorded 11%.

Service prices rose by 3.5%, with personal services up 5.1%, public services up 0.7%, and rent up 2.0%. Among personal services, dining out increased by 7.4%, the highest since March 1998 (7.6%).

The core inflation rate (index excluding agricultural products and petroleum products), which shows the underlying trend of prices, rose by 4.1%, the highest since April 2009 (4.2%).