The consumer price index rose 2.4% last month, showing no sign of easing. The October consumer price index rose 2.4%, a record high in 1 year and 3 months, and November posted the same rate.
According to the "November consumer price trends" that the National Data Office released on the 2nd, last month's consumer price index was 117.20 (2020=100), up 2.4% from a year earlier. This year's consumer price growth stayed in the low 2% range except for June and August, which were in the 1% range. It moved to the mid-2% range in the past two months. The living price index, which focuses on frequently purchased items and is closer to perceived inflation, rose 2.9%. It was the highest increase in 1 year and 4 months since July last year (3.0%).
Agricultural, livestock and fisheries products rose 5.6% from a year earlier, marking the biggest increase in 1 year and 5 months since June last year (6.5%). Agricultural, livestock and fisheries products added 0.42 percentage point (p) to overall inflation.
By major item, prices rose sharply for tangerines (26.5%), apples (21.0%), rice (18.6%), mackerel (13.2%), eggs (7.3%), pork (5.1%) and domestic beef (4.6%). However, tangerine prices fell 18.0% from the previous month; the National Data Office views the large year-over-year increase as a base effect because tangerines were expensive in November last year. Meanwhile, carrot (-48.8%), radish (-28.1%), squash (-17.3%), tomatoes (-14.9%), cucumbers (-13.2%), green chili peppers (-11.1%) and scallions (-6.5%) decreased.
Industrial products added 0.76 percentage point (p) to overall inflation, led by petroleum products rising 5.9% on the back of a strong dollar. It was also driven by higher prices for coffee (15.4%), diesel (10.4%), bread (6.5%) and gasoline (5.3%). Services added 1.25 percentage points (p) to overall inflation as insurance service fees (16.3%) and apartment maintenance fees (3.3%) increased. Lee Du-won, deliberation director for economic trend statistics at the National Data Office, said, "Insurance service fees reflect insurers' increases in indemnity premiums over the past year."
Meanwhile, the index excluding agricultural products and petroleum, a core inflation gauge, rose 2.3%. The index excluding food and energy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) measure of core inflation, rose 2.0%.