▲ A vegetable market in a traditional market in Seoul
The consumer price inflation rate fell back to the 2% range last month.
While agricultural product prices dropped due to increased fruit shipments for the Chuseok holiday combined with government discount support, the upward trend in livestock and fishery product prices expanded.
Petroleum products continued their upward trend in the 14% range, and durable goods such as processed foods and computers saw larger increases.
According to the "September Consumer Price Trends" released by Statistics Korea today (the 2nd), last month's consumer price index stood at 120.43 (2020=100), up 2.9% from the same month last year.
Driven by the impact of the Middle East war, the consumer price inflation rate rose to 2.6% in April, 3.1% in May, and 3.2% in June, before declining slightly to 2.8% in July.
After recording 3.1% in August, it entered the 2% range last month.
Considering that August consumer inflation would have been around 2.5% if the base effect from last year's SK Telecom hacking incident-related fee discounts were removed, September's inflation rate could also be viewed as having ticked up slightly.
The consumer price inflation rate has significantly exceeded the Bank of Korea's price stability target (2.0%) for about half a year following the Middle East war.
By item, agricultural, livestock, and fishery prices fell 0.3% last month, pulling down the overall consumer price index by 0.03 percentage points (p).
In particular, agricultural product prices dropped 4.0% compared to a year ago, contributing -0.17 percentage points to overall inflation.
The rate of decline narrowed compared to August (-6.7%).
Fruit prices fell 10.9%, while vegetables recorded 0.0%.
Apples (-9.2%), napa cabbage (-15.2%), peaches (-14.7%), and grapes (-10.3%) decreased, but pumpkins surged 46.9%.
Lee Doo-won, Director General for Economic Trends Statistics at Statistics Korea, said, "With favorable weather conditions for apples and pears leading to increased shipments for the Chuseok holiday, the decline in fruit prices expanded," adding, "On the other hand, vegetable shipments decreased due to weather conditions, shifting from a 9.7% drop in August to a flat trend in September."
Livestock and fishery products rose 3.7% and 4.5%, respectively.
Their upward trends expanded due to reduced supply and increased demand for the Chuseok holiday.
Regarding agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, Director General Lee explained, "Government discount support also played a role."
Processed food prices rose 2.1% due to factory gate price hikes, widening the inflation rate.
Petroleum product prices jumped 14.8% from a year ago.
This marks the second consecutive month in the 14% range, following August (14.2%).
The government analyzed that the implementation of the maximum petroleum price system in September lowered the inflation rate by 0.6 percentage points, estimating that without the maximum price system, September's consumer price inflation rate would have reached 3.5%.
Influenced by semiconductor prices, computer prices surged 27.4% to maintain a 20% range increase, while mobile phones also rose 8.3% due to new product releases such as the Galaxy and iPhone.
An official from Statistics Korea said, "The expanded upward momentum in durable goods such as computers and mobile phones, as well as processed foods, acted as upward factors for core inflation."
The index excluding agricultural products and petroleum, a core inflation indicator, rose 2.7%.
The index excluding food and energy, based on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards, increased 2.8%.
The living price index, composed mainly of frequently purchased items to reflect perceived inflation, rose 2.5%.
The fresh food index, which reflects dining table prices, fell 3.3% from the same month last year.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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