South Korea’s September CPI Slows to 2.9%, Returning to 2% Range Despite 14.8% Fuel Surge
Summary
- South Korea said September consumer inflation slowed to 2.9%, returning to the 2% range after one month.
- Petroleum product prices jumped 14.8% from a year earlier, but the government said inflation would have reached 3.5% without the fuel price cap.
- Core inflation excluding food and energy rose 2.8% from a year earlier, while processed food prices increased 2.1%.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
South Korea’s consumer inflation slowed to 2.9% in September, returning to the 2% range after one month. Agricultural prices fell, while petroleum products continued to post double-digit gains in the wake of the Middle East war.
According to September consumer price data released on October 2 by Statistics Korea, the consumer price index stood at 120.43 last month, up 2.9% from a year earlier. The inflation rate had accelerated to 3.1% in August before easing by 0.2 percentage point a month later.
Petroleum product prices jumped 14.8% from a year earlier. The government said the fuel price cap now in place helped ease some inflation pressure. It estimated the program lowered September inflation by about 0.6 percentage point and that the rate would have reached 3.5% without it.
By contrast, prices for agricultural, livestock and fishery products fell 0.3%, reducing headline inflation by 0.03 percentage point. The decline reflected higher shipments of agricultural products ahead of Chuseok, the Korean harvest holiday, and expanded government discount support.
By category, agricultural prices fell 4.0%. Livestock prices rose 3.7%, while fishery prices increased 4.5%.
Processed food prices climbed 2.1% as factory prices rose. The living necessities price index, a gauge of perceived inflation, increased 2.5%, while the fresh food index fell 3.3%.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.8% from a year earlier.
