July Consumer Prices Up 2.3%... Lowest in 25 Months (Update)

Last month, the consumer price inflation rate recorded its lowest level in 25 months since June 2021, at 2.3%.

According to the 'July Consumer Price Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 2nd, the consumer price index last month rose by 2.3% compared to the same month last year, marking the second consecutive month in the 2% range following the previous month (2.7%).

The core price index, excluding agricultural products and petroleum, increased by 3.9% compared to the same month last year. The rate of increase slowed to the 3% range for the first time in 15 months since April last year (3.6%). The price index excluding food and energy rose by 3.3%, marking the third consecutive month in the 3% range since May (3.9%).

The living expenses price index rose by 1.8% compared to the same month last year. Food prices increased by 4.1% year-on-year, while non-food items rose by only 0.4%. The living expenses price index including rent and monthly lease payments increased by 1.6%. The living expenses price index was compiled from 144 items out of a total of 458 items, focusing on those with high purchase frequency and high expenditure share, which are sensitive to price changes.

The Korea Customs Service and the National Institute of Technology and Standards announced on the 26th that they detected over 40,000 imported summer products violating safety standards during safety inspections conducted throughout June. The photo shows the summer goods section at Daepyeong Mart. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

The fresh food price index rose by 1.3% compared to the same month last year, slowing by 2.4 percentage points from last month (3.7%). Fresh fish and shellfish increased by 6.2%, fresh fruits by 5.2%, while fresh vegetables fell by 5.3%.

By expenditure purpose, items such as housing, water, electricity, and fuel (4.8%), food and accommodation (5.8%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (3.4%), clothing and footwear (7.8%), other goods and services (5.8%), household goods and household services (5.2%), health (1.9%), recreation and culture (2.6%), education (1.8%), telecommunications (0.9%), and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.3%) rose. However, transportation (-10.7%) declined.

By item nature, goods rose by 1.4%, while agricultural, livestock, and fishery products fell by 0.5% compared to the same month last year. Electricity, gas, and water increased by 21.1%, maintaining a 20% range increase for 10 consecutive months since October last year (23.1%). Rent rose by 0.3%, public services by 1.2%, and personal services by 4.7% respectively.

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