South Korea's consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.6% year-on-year to 108.29 points in August, rising more than 2% for the fifth month in a row and setting a new high for the second month in a row, according to data released by the South Korean Statistics Office on Thursday.
South Korea's CPI rose less than 2 per cent in January (0.6 per cent), February (1.1 per cent) and March (1.5 per cent), broke 2 per cent for the first time in April (2.3 per cent), hit the highest level in nearly nine years in May (2.6 per cent), fell slightly to 2.4 per cent in June and 2.6 per cent in July and August.
Specifically, the price of living index rose 3.4% from the same period last year, setting the highest level this year for the second month in a row. The core price index, which excludes agricultural products and oil products, rose 1.8 per cent year-on-year, rising above 1 per cent for six consecutive months.
The prices of agricultural and sideline products rose 7.8% compared with the same period last year, of which the prices of eggs soared by 54.6%, spinach and chili noodles by 35.5% and 26.1% respectively, and the prices of industrial products rose by 3.2%. Among them, the prices of petroleum products such as diesel (23.5%) and gasoline (20.8%) rose, and the prices of hydropower and coal rose 0.1% from the same period last year. The price of public services fell by 0.7%, but the price of personal services increased by 2.7%, of which insurance service fees rose by 9.6%, multi-family housing management fees by 5.3%, dining out prices by 2.8%, and rent rose by 1.6%, the highest since August 2017.