The consumer price index rose 3.1% in May. It was the biggest increase in 2 years and 2 months since March 2024 (3.1%). As the impact of the "Middle East war" took hold, petroleum products rose 24.2% from a year earlier. Prices of petroleum products posted the biggest gain in 3 years and 10 months since the "Russia-Ukraine war" in 2022.
According to the "May consumer price trends" that the Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS) released on the 2nd, last month's consumer price index (2020=100) rose 3.1% from a year earlier. The recent pace of price increases had been slowing since Oct. last year, but has expanded for three straight months since March, when the Middle East war began (2.2%).
Prices of petroleum products jumped 24.2% from a year earlier. This was the biggest gain in 3 years and 10 months since July 2022 (35.2%). Specifically, gasoline and diesel rose 23.1% and 33.3%, respectively. Kerosene (21.7%) also saw the biggest increase since Feb. 2023 (27.1%). In addition, international airfares rose 33.5% due to higher fuel surcharges. This is the largest increase since statistics began in 1995.
Industrial products, including petroleum products, rose 4.2% from a year earlier. Processed foods, another item that makes up industrial products, rose only 0.8%. Looking at items of a different nature from industrial products, agricultural, livestock and fisheries products rose 2.2%. Electricity, gas and water rose 0.1%.
Services, which refers to items such as rent, public services and dining out, rose 2.8%. Public services rose 1.8%, and personal services rose 3.7%. A Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS) official said, "Rising oil prices due to the Middle East war and seasonal factors driving up service prices led to the increase in consumer prices."
The living cost index, which reflects perceived prices and is composed mainly of frequently purchased items, rose 3.3%, widening the increase by 0.3 percentage points from the previous month (3.0%). The fresh food index, which reflects "table prices," fell 1.4%.
The food and energy excluding index, a core inflation gauge used by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), rose 2.5%. Another core inflation gauge, the agricultural and petroleum products excluding index, rose 2.5%.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy and Finance estimated that policy efforts such as the maximum price system for petroleum products and a cut in fuel taxes had the effect of lowering last month's consumer price inflation rate by 0.6 percentage points.