Latest reading: Harmonized consumer prices increased 2.7% in annual terms in June, following a 2.8% rise in the prior month....
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 2025.
Source: Macrobond.
Korea Inflation Data
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflation (CPI, ann. var. %, aop) | 2.5 | 5.1 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| Inflation (CPI, ann. var. %, eop) | 3.7 | 5.0 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 2.3 |
| Inflation (Core, ann. var. %, aop) | 1.4 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1.9 |
| Inflation (PPI, ann. var. %, aop) | 6.4 | 8.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.1 |
Inflation accelerates in June from May
Latest reading: Consumer prices increased 3.2% on a year-on-year basis in June, following a 3.1% rise in the prior month. June's reading was the strongest since December 2023. Relative to the prior month's figures, there were higher price pressures for food and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.0% in annual terms vs +1.6% in May) and recreation and culture (+5.4% vs +5.0% in May). In contrast, there were milder price pressures for housing and utilities (+1.7% vs +1.8% in May), transportation (+11.1% vs +11.6% in May) and clothing and footwear (+2.6% vs +2.8% in May). Meanwhile, core consumer prices rose 2.5% in annual terms in June, stable from the previous month's reading. Finally, consumer prices were up 0.06% in June in month-on-month terms, following a 0.46% rise in the previous month.
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 35 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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