Statistics Korea Releases ‘February Consumer Price Trends’
Agricultural and Livestock Prices Rise by 0.6% Year-on-Year,
Lee Doo-won, Director of Economic Trend Statistics at Statistics Korea, explaining the ‘February Consumer Price Trends’ at the Government Complex Sejong on the 6th. Yonhap News, ‘ Consumer prices have shown a 2% rise for the second consecutive month. Agricultural and livestock product prices rose by 0.6% compared to the previous year, indicating a relatively stable trend. ‘,
, ‘ According to the ‘February Consumer Price Trends’ published by Statistics Korea on the 6th, the consumer price index (CPI) for February stood at 116.08 (based on 2020=100), an increase of 2.0% compared to the same period last year. Although the growth rate was lower than January’s 2.2%, it still continued a two-month streak of 2% increases. ‘,
, ‘ The prices of petroleum products rose by 6.3% compared to the same period last year, driving up overall prices. The rate of increase was 1.0 percentage point lower than January’s 7.3% due to the recent decline in international oil prices and exchange rates. ‘,
, ‘ Agricultural and livestock product prices rose by 0.6% compared to last year, indicating a stable trend. Specifically, prices of fruits and greenhouse vegetables decreased, leading to a 1.2% decline compared to a year earlier. However, prices for field-grown vegetables like cabbage, radish, and carrots continued to be strong due to supply shortages.\xa0 ‘,
, ‘ As schools reopen in March and school meals resume, the demand for major vegetables is expected to increase significantly. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food plans to focus on supplying government reserves and promoting discounts to reduce consumer burdens. They also intend to use allocated tariffs to supplement the supply of items like cabbage and radishes, which are in short supply. ‘,
, ‘ Prices for livestock products rose by 3.8% compared to the previous year. To minimize the impact on supply and demand, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food will strengthen quarantine management to prevent livestock diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) and African swine fever (ASF). For pork, which is expected to see increased demand in the spring, the ministry plans to examine measures to stabilize supply and prices through the Livestock Supply-Demand Control Committee. ‘,
, ‘ The prices for processed foods and dining out rose by 2.9% and 3.0% respectively compared to last year. ‘,
, ‘ The core inflation index, which excludes food and energy and is calculated using the OECD methodology, rose by 1.8% year-on-year. The index excluding agricultural and petroleum products rose by 1.9%. ‘,
, ‘ Given uncertainties such as international oil prices, exchange rates, and weather conditions, future price volatility is projected to be high. The government plans to focus all efforts on stabilizing perceived inflation. They will continue to manage stockpiling and releasing agricultural and fisheries products and supporting discounts to stabilize food prices while closely monitoring key price trends and promptly devising responses for price-volatile items.’