Korea: Inflation rises in August from the prior month
Latest reading: Consumer prices were up 3.1% on a year-on-year basis in August, following a 2.8% increase in the previous month.
Relative to the previous month’s figures, price pressures were higher for housing and utilities in August (+1.9% in annual terms vs +1.8% in July). In contrast, there were milder price pressures for transportation (+7.2% vs +7.7% in July), food and non-alcoholic beverages (-0.5% vs +0.9% in July) and recreation and culture (+4.9% vs +5.5% in July). Finally, the variation in clothing and footwear prices was the same as in the prior month (+2.8% in August and July).
Meanwhile, core consumer prices increased 3.4% in annual terms in August, following a 2.6% rise in the prior month.
Finally, consumer prices rose 0.23% in August on a month-on-month basis, following a 0.18% decline in the prior month.