Inflation fears rumble as producer prices inch up
![Pictured are apples and Asian pears displayed at a traditional market in Seoul. Apple wholesale prices on average skyrocketed by 95.9 percent compared to last year, almost double last year's prices, while Asian pear average wholesale prices jumped by 66.2 percent. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/01/23/af77c1ed-1b59-48de-8ec7-39a4e1e9c9db.jpg)
Pictured are apples and Asian pears displayed at a traditional market in Seoul. Apple wholesale prices on average skyrocketed by 95.9 percent compared to last year, almost double last year's prices, while Asian pear average wholesale prices jumped by 66.2 percent. [YONHAP]
Producer prices moved up 0.1 percent on-month in December due to the higher cost of agricultural products and gas, possibly indicating a coming price inflation for consumers.
The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, came to 121.19 last month, up from 121.02 tallied in November, according to data from the Bank of Korea on Tuesday.
It marked the first rebound in three months, as the index fell 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent on-month in October and November, respectively.
From a year earlier, it gained 1.2 percent.
Producer prices are one of the key indicators that determine the trajectory of inflation, as they influence the prices that businesses will charge consumers in the months ahead.
For all of 2023, the producer price moved up 1.6 percent on-year, the data also showed.
In December, consumer prices rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier, the fifth consecutive month that prices have stayed above the 3 percent level, though the growth has slowed down for two months in a row.
BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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