Inflation in Korea
The Republic of Korea maintained moderate inflation rates over the last decade, averaging around 2%. Inflation was notably below this threshold in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, and surged in 2021 and 2022 on economic recovery, supply constraints and high commodity prices. That said, inflation in 2022 was still below the OECD average. Inflation came down in 2023 and 2024 thanks to the lagged impact of successive rate hikes by the Central Bank.
In the year 2024, the inflation in Korea was 2.32%, compared to 1.27% in 2014 and 3.60% in 2023. It averaged 1.89% over the last decade. For more inflation information, visit our dedicated page.
Korea Inflation Chart
Note: This chart displays Inflation Rate (CPI, annual variation in %) for Korea from 2014 to 2024.
Source: Macrobond.
Korea Inflation Data
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inflation (CPI, ann. var. %, aop) | 0.5 | 2.5 | 5.1 | 3.6 | 2.3 |
Inflation (CPI, ann. var. %, eop) | 0.6 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 3.2 | 1.9 |
Inflation (Core, ann. var. %, aop) | 0.4 | 1.4 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.2 |
Inflation (PPI, ann. var. %, aop) | -0.5 | 6.4 | 8.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
Inflation rises in June
Latest reading: Inflation increased to 2.2% in June from May’s 1.9%, slightly above market expectations and the Bank of Korea 2.0% inflation target. The result was mainly driven by a base effect; however, looking at the details of the release, food prices rose at a faster pace, and transportation costs grew after two consecutive months of decline. On the flipside, price pressures in housing and utilities remained unchanged. Meanwhile, the trend pointed down, with annual average inflation falling to 1.9% in June (May: 2.0%). Meanwhile, core inflation was unchanged, coming in at May's 2.0% in June. Finally, consumer prices increased 0.03% over the previous month in June, contrasting the 0.09% drop logged in May.
Panelist insight: Commenting on the outlook, ING’s Min Joo Kang stated: “Going forward, gasoline prices are expected to rebound, along with subway fees (in the Seoul metropolitan area), potentially boosting inflation. Nevertheless, both headline and core inflation should remain around 2% for the foreseeable future, reducing inflation concerns for the central bank and allowing more focus on financial stability.”
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Korean inflation projections for the next ten years from a panel of 29 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable inflation forecast available for Korean inflation.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Korean inflation projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of Korean inflation forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.
Latest Global Inflation News
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