April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s consumer prices increased more than 1 percent in March on a rise in prices of agricultural goods and services, government data showed on April 3.

The country’s consumer price index climbed 1.3 percent last month from a year earlier, decelerating from the previous month’s 1.4 percent on-year gain, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

From a month earlier, the index fell 0.1 percent in March.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, grew 1.3 percent in March compared with last year.

Prices of agricultural goods rose 2.1 percent on-year last month, slowing from a 3.6 percent on-year gain the previous month, with those for industrial goods increasing 0.9 percent on-year, compared with a 0.8 percent on-year rise the previous month, the agency said.

The statistical office said prices of service fees advanced 1.7 percent last month, compared with a 1.7 percent on-year rise.

“Unusually low temperatures during winter continued to help jack up prices of agricultural goods and other vegetables,” said an official at the statistics office.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)