Latest reading: Consumer prices fell 0.1% on an annual basis in May, swinging from April’s 0.4% increase. May’s result marked...
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 holds stable in April
Latest reading: Inflation was stable at March's 2.1% in April, close to the Central Bank's 2.0% target and in line with market expectations. While transport prices fell in April amid lower energy costs, food price pressures rose. Annual average inflation edged down to 2.0% in April (March: 2.1%). Meanwhile, core inflation ticked up to 2.1% in April from March’s 1.9%. Finally, consumer prices increased 0.08% in April over the previous month, below the 0.18% rise seen in March. April's result marked the weakest reading since November 2024.
Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years
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 30 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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