South Korea Inflation Rate

Last Release

Nov 30, 2024

Actual

1.5

Units In

1.3

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Dec 30, 2024

Time to Release

27 Days 0 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
32.5 Oct 1980	-0.4 Sep 2019	6.82 %	1966-2024	Statistics Korea

In South Korea, the most important categories in the consumer price index are Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (17 percent of total weight) and Food and non-alcoholic beverages (13.6 percent of total weight). Others include Restaurants and hotels (12 percent); Education (11.4 percent); Transportation (10.9 percent); Health (7.3 percent); and Clothing and footwear (6.2 percent). The components with the least weight are Communication at 5.8 percent; Miscellaneous goods and services at 5.4 percent; Recreation and culture at 5.3 percent; Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance at 3.8 percent; and Alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 1.24 percent.

Latest Updates

South Korea's annual inflation rate increased to 1.5% in November 2024, up from a 45-month low of 1.3% in October. However, the latest figure fell short of the market's expectations of 1.7%. Inflation remained below the central bank's 2% target for the third consecutive month, reinforcing its recent decision to lower interest rates. Last week, the Bank of Korea unexpectedly reduced its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3%, marking the first instance of back-to-back rate cuts since 2009. The BOK attributed the move to stabilizing prices, driven by falling global oil prices and subdued demand. Additionally, the central bank revised its inflation projections for 2024 and 2025, lowering them to 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively, down from previous forecasts of 2.5% and 2.1%.