Inflation in South Korea hits 24-year high in Q2

SEJONG, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- South Korea's nationwide consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in 24 years in the second quarter of the year on soaring energy and food costs, reported Yonhap citing data on Monday.

The national consumer price index recorded a reading of 07.54 in the April-June period, up 5.4 per cent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It marks the highest figure for the second quarter since the 8.2 per cent increase during the same period in 1998.

Prices of oil products soared 36.3 per cent on-year in the three-month period, with those of processed food products climbing 7.6 per cent.

The eastern province of Gangwon posted the highest growth rate of 6.6 per cent, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 6.5 per cent and the southernmost resort island of Jeju with 6.4 per cent.

Consumer prices gained 4.6 per cent in Seoul, with the southeastern port of Busan and the central city of Daejeon registering increases of 5 per cent 5.2 per cent each.

The data also showed national retail sales inching down 0.2 per cent on-year in the second quarter, with mining and manufacturing output expanding in 12 cities and provinces.

The national employment rate came to 62.7 per cent in the second quarter, up 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

--BERNAMA