Korea's consumer prices grow 2 pct in Sept.

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Korea's consumer prices grow 2 pct in Sept.


Korea's consumer prices grew at the fastest pace in three months in September mainly due to increased prices of farm products, a report showed yesterday.

The country's consumer price index rose 2 percent from a year earlier in September, quickening from the 1.2 percent gain tallied in the previous month, according to the report by Statistics Korea.

The index also advanced 0.7 percent from a month earlier following a 0.4 percent rise in August.

The so-called core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, rose 1.4 percent on-year, which accelerated for the second consecutive month, the report showed.

Consumer prices rose despite a recent trend that saw overall inflationary pressure declining. Consumer price growth had stayed in the 1 percent range for the two previous months.

The September hike is attributable to the higher price of farm products after harvests were hard-hit by typhoons last month.

The report showed the fresh food product index jumped 8.6 percent from a year earlier. It also grew 8.8 percent from the previous month.

In particular, typhoons that touched down on the country last month, destroying crops and disrupting supply, sent the prices of vegetables soaring. Their prices surged 27.4 percent from August, according to the report.

Industrial product prices rose 2.5 percent on-month in September and 0.8 percent from a month earlier.

Energy costs also put an upward pressure on consumer prices with gasoline and diesel prices jumping 4 percent and 5 percent from a year earlier, the report showed.

Yonhap

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