Korea: Inflation returns in July
Consumer prices remained flat in July with respect to the previous month, after a mild 0.15% increase in June. Diving into the breakdown of the release, prices for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels fell in July, although the drop was offset by an increase in recreation and culture, and transport. Food and non-alcoholic beverages edged up by 0.1% in the same month.
Consumer prices rose 0.3% on an annual basis in July, which was an improvement from June’s flat reading. Annual average inflation decreased to 0.3% in July, the lowest print since at least the 1990s. Lastly, core inflation rose slightly to 0.7% from June’s 0.6%, which is the highest reading from the past four months.