South Korea's consumer prices grew over the Bank of Korea's 2 percent target for the third consecutive month in November, largely due to sharp increases in agricultural and petroleum product prices amid a weak Korean won, government data showed Tuesday.
Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, increased 2.4 percent from a year earlier last month, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
In 2025, inflation had remained above 2 percent for four consecutive months through April before slowing to 1.9 percent in May.
It later rose above 2 percent in both June and July before briefly slowing to 1.7 percent in August and again rising over 2 percent in September and October.
The ministry attributed last month's increase primarily to a sharp rise in prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products, which jumped 5.6 percent on-year, adding 0.42 percentage point to overall inflation.
Petroleum product prices rose 5.9 percent, further adding upward pressure on inflation, accelerating from the previous month's 4.8 percent on-year increase.
This marks the highest growth rate since February's 6.3 percent gain.
The ministry noted that although global oil prices declined, the reduced scale of fuel tax cuts combined with a strong US dollar amplified the rise in petroleum product prices.
"Petroleum products and imported agricultural, livestock and fishery goods are the most sensitive to foreign currency changes," Lee Doo-won, a ministry official, said.
Lee added that higher prices of raw materials, also mostly imported, could also put upward pressure on processed food and dining-out prices in the medium to long term.
The Korean won has been among the world's weakest-performing currencies over the past year.
Prices of industrial goods increased 2.3 percent, while electricity, gas and water rates rose 0.4 percent.
Among industrial products, processed food prices jumped 3.3 percent, continuing to weigh down prices that are directly related to people's livelihoods.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.9 percent on-year in November, the ministry said. It marks the highest increase since July of last year, when it increased 3 percent on-year. (Yonhap)
