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 September from August
Latest reading: Consumer prices rose 2.1% on a year-on-year basis in September, following a 1.7% rise in the prior month. The result was slightly above the Central Bank’s 2.0% target and market expectations. Relative to the previous month's figures, price pressures in September were higher for transportation (+1.2% yoy vs +0.1% in August). In contrast, there were milder price pressures for housing and utilities (+1.2% vs +1.3% in August), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.3% vs +4.9% in August) plus recreation and culture (+0.7% vs +0.9% in August). Meanwhile, core consumer prices were up 2.0% on a year-on-year basis in September, following a 1.3% rise in the prior month. Finally, consumer prices rose 0.52% in September in month-on-month terms, following a 0.06% decline in the prior month.
Panelist insight: Commenting on the outlook, Nomura’s analysts stated: “Amid higher supply-side price pressures and sticky service price inflation, we expect inflation to remain around the BOK’s 2% target. We maintain our 2025 inflation forecast.”
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 28 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.
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