South Korea's consumer prices rise 3.1% in August, returning to 3% range

Services prices up 3.7%, contributing 2.04 percentage points to overall inflation

Petroleum products surge 14.2% year-on-year; core inflation also climbs to 3.4%

Everyday price index rises 3.2%; napa cabbage jumps 37% from previous month

Travelers crowd the departure hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport on Aug. 3, the peak of the summer vacation season. Overseas group tour costs rose 14.9% in August. [Yonhap]

South Korea's consumer price inflation returned to the 3 percent range in August, one month after briefly dipping below that threshold.

Prices for agricultural, livestock and fishery products fell from a year earlier, but rising service and petroleum costs drove overall inflation higher. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, also widened to 3.4 percent.

The consumer price index stood at 120.05 (base year 2020=100) last month, up 3.1 percent from the same month a year ago, the Ministry of Statistics said Wednesday. Prices rose 0.2 percent from the previous month.

Consumer price inflation climbed steadily this year, from 2.0 percent in both January and February to 2.2 percent in March, 2.6 percent in April, 3.1 percent in May and 3.2 percent in June. It eased to 2.8 percent in July before rebounding to the 3 percent range in August.

Consumer price trends for August 2026 [Ministry of Statistics]

Services prices were the primary driver of inflation, rising 3.7 percent from a year earlier — well above July's 2.6 percent gain. Services contributed 2.04 percentage points to overall inflation, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the total increase.

Public services prices climbed 6.5 percent year-on-year, while personal services rose 3.5 percent. Among major items, mobile phone charges surged 26.7 percent, insurance service fees rose 13.4 percent and overseas group tour costs increased 14.9 percent. Apartment maintenance fees and auto repair costs were up 3.3 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively. Dining-out prices rose 2.7 percent, while personal services excluding dining out increased 4.0 percent.

Industrial product prices rose 3.7 percent year-on-year, adding 1.24 percentage points to overall inflation. Petroleum products were a particularly sharp contributor, surging 14.2 percent and accounting for 0.54 percentage points of the increase. Diesel rose 19.6 percent, gasoline 11.5 percent and kerosene 19.7 percent. Petroleum product prices did fall 1.4 percent from the previous month, however.

Agricultural, livestock and fishery product prices fell 2.6 percent from a year earlier, shaving 0.21 percentage points off overall inflation. Agricultural prices dropped 6.7 percent, while livestock and fishery prices rose 1.5 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. Napa cabbage (-26.2 percent), tomatoes (-24.8 percent) and apples (-8.9 percent) all declined, while rice (6.2 percent), imported beef (7.4 percent) and eggs (5.2 percent) rose.

Vegetable prices showed diverging trends depending on the comparison period. Vegetables were down 9.7 percent from a year earlier but rose 12.4 percent from the previous month. Over that single month, napa cabbage jumped 37.0 percent, spinach 68.2 percent, cucumbers 40.4 percent and lettuce 28.4 percent.

Core inflation, which reflects the underlying price trend, also accelerated. The index excluding food and energy — the OECD's preferred measure of core inflation — rose 3.4 percent year-on-year, widening by 0.8 percentage points from the previous month. The index excluding agricultural products and petroleum products also climbed, from 2.5 percent to 3.1 percent.

The everyday price index, which tracks 144 items that consumers buy frequently and spend heavily on, rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier — 0.7 percentage points above July's 2.5 percent gain. Food prices rose 0.8 percent, while non-food items increased 4.8 percent.

The fresh food index fell 6.7 percent from a year earlier. Fresh vegetables and fresh fruits declined 9.8 percent and 10.0 percent, respectively, while fresh seafood rose 4.1 percent. Compared with the previous month, the fresh food index rose 3.0 percent.

fact0514@heraldcorp.com