January Consumer Prices Up 2.2%... Highest Increase in Six Months (Update)

Consumer Prices Rise 2.2% in January
Highest Increase in Six Months Driven by Petroleum and Processed Foods

Consumer prices continued their upward trend, rising back into the 2% range for the first time in five months.

According to the 'January Consumer Price Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 5th, the consumer price index last month increased by 2.2% compared to a year earlier. The rate of increase was the highest in half a year since July last year (2.6%).

Last year, consumer prices slowed down to the 2% range from April to August after peaking at 3.1% in February and March, then dropped to the 1% range in September (1.6%) and continued to rise in the 1% range for five consecutive months. Although it remained in the 1% range, the rate of increase picked up in the fourth quarter with 1.3% in October, 1.5% in November, and 1.9% in December.

The core inflation index, which excludes food and energy items with high price volatility, rose by 2.0%. This was an increase from the previous month (1.8%). The index excluding food and energy rose by 1.9%.

The main driver of overall price increases last month was petroleum products. Petroleum prices rose by 7.3%, pushing up overall prices by 0.27 percentage points. Processed food prices also increased by 2.7%, marking the largest rise since January last year (3.2%) and raising overall prices by 0.23 percentage points.

The living cost index rose by 2.5% compared to a year earlier, expanding from the previous month’s increase of 2.2%. The living cost index is compiled by selecting 144 items that consumers frequently purchase and spend a large portion of their budget on, making them sensitive to price changes.

Among these, food prices rose by 2.7% compared to a year earlier, with an increased rate of rise, while non-food items increased by 2.5%, showing a rise in the 2% range. The living cost index including rent also rose by 2.3%.

The fresh food index rose by 0.7% compared to the same month last year, a significant drop from the previous month’s increase of 2.9%. Fresh fruit prices fell by 2.6%, while fresh vegetables and fresh fish increased by 4.4% and 0.9%, respectively.

By item, radish prices surged 79.5%, marking the largest increase following the previous month. Cabbage (66.8%), carrots (76.4%), gim (seaweed) (35.4%), and pears (30.8%) also saw considerable increases. Meanwhile, prices of green onions (-32.0%), sweet potatoes (-23.2%), cucumbers (-11.6%), bananas (-13.8%), and rice (-5.9%) declined.

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