Domestic Consumer Price Inflation 'Touches' 6%... About 24 Years Since IMF (Update)

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon, Sejong=Reporter Son Seonhee] The domestic consumer price inflation rate has surged to the 6% range for the first time in about 24 years.

According to the consumer price trends for June announced by Statistics Korea on the 5th, the consumer price index last month was 108.22 (2020=100), up 6.0% compared to the same period last year.

The last time the consumer price inflation rate exceeded 6% was November 1998 (6.8%), 23 years and 7 months ago.

The consumer price inflation rate recorded 4% for two consecutive months in March (4.1%) and April (4.8%) this year, then exceeded 5% in May (5.4%), and last month broke through the 6% barrier.

Last month, prices showed a sharp rise across all categories of goods and services. In particular, petroleum products and industrial goods, as well as electricity, gas, and water prices, led the price increases.

Looking at goods prices, industrial products including petroleum products (39.6%) and processed foods (7.9%) rose by 9.3%. The contribution of industrial products to the inflation rate was 3.24 percentage points. Among these, petroleum products alone contributed 1.74 percentage points.

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

Agricultural, livestock, and fishery products also rose by 4.8%, centered on livestock products (10.3%). Prices increased mainly for potatoes (37.8%), napa cabbage (35.5%), grapes (31.4%), and imported beef (27.2%).

Service prices rose 3.9%, with personal services up 5.8%, public services up 0.7%, and rent up 1.9%. Among personal services, dining out increased by 8%.

The core inflation rate, which shows the underlying trend of prices excluding agricultural products and petroleum, rose by 4.4%. This is the highest since March 2009 (4.5%). It is also the first time since March-April 2009 that the core inflation rate has remained in the 4% range for two consecutive months.

The living cost index, which reflects the felt inflation, rose by 7.4%. This is the highest level since November 1998 (10.4%).

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