South Korea Inflation Rate

Last Release

Mar 31, 2025

Actual

2.1

Units In

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

May 01, 2025

Time to Release

29 Days 0 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
32.5 Oct 1980	-0.4 Sep 2019	6.79 %	1966-2025	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 inflation rate edged up to 2.1% in March 2025 from 2.0% in February, surpassing expectations. This comes as the Bank of Korea has cut rates by a total of 75 basis points in the current easing cycle, bringing its policy rate to a two-year low of 2.75%. The central bank revised its growth forecast lower due to the impact of US tariffs and domestic political turmoil. Meanwhile, policymakers maintained their inflation forecast at 1.9% for both 2025 and 2026, while projecting core inflation at 1.8%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.2% in March, slowing from February’s 0.3% increase, in line with forecasts.