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S. Korea’s consumer prices up 2.7 pct in June, slow for 5th month

July 3, 2023

South Korea’s consumer price growth slowed for the fifth straight month in June, falling below 3 percent for the first time in 21 months, data showed Tuesday.

Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2.7 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 3.3 percent increase tallied in May, according to the report from Statistics Korea.

It also marked the first time for the on-year growth in consumer prices to fall below 3 percent since September 2021, the data showed.

Inflation stayed above 2 percent — the central bank’s inflation target over the medium term — for the 27th straight month in June.

The central bank held the benchmark interest rate steady for the third straight time in May at 3.5 percent due to easing inflationary pressure amid rising concerns over an economic slowdown. Previously, the bank delivered seven consecutive hikes in borrowing costs from April 2022 to January 2023.