South Korea Inflation Rate

Last Release

Feb 28, 2025

Actual

Units In

2.2

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Apr 01, 2025

Time to Release

25 Days 9 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
32.5 Oct 1980	-0.4 Sep 2019	6.8 %	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 eased to 2% in February 2025, down from a six-month high of 2.2% in January. However, it came in higher than market expectations of 1.95%. This data follows the Bank of Korea’s decision to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.78% in its February meeting, citing stabilizing inflation, easing household debt, and sluggish economic growth. The central bank maintained its inflation forecast at 1.9% for both 2025 and 2026, while projecting core inflation at 1.8%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 0.3% in February, a slowdown from the 0.7% increase in January, but still surpassing the anticipated 0.2%.