SEOUL: The Republic of Korea’s consumer prices slowed to the lowest level in nearly three and half years in August on easing prices of farm produce and global oil, Yonhap News Agency quoted data from Statistics Korea as saying Tuesday.

Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2 percent on-year last month, compared with a 2.6 percent on-year rise a month earlier, the data showed.

August’s figure marked the slowest increase since March 2021, when consumer prices grew 1.9 percent. It was also the fifth consecutive month that the price growth stayed below 3 percent.

In January, inflation slowed to 2.8 percent, dropping below 3 percent for the first time since July 2023, but edged up to 3.1 percent in February and stayed at the same level the following month before cooling to 2.9 percent in April.

The figure then fell to 2.5 percent in May and 2.4 percent in June before rising to 2.6 percent in July.

The government has said that the country is projected to reach the target rate of 2 percent by around t
he end of 2024.

The finance ministry expects this year’s prices to rise 2.6 percent.

Source: Emirates News Agency