By Kwanwoo Jun
South Korea's headline inflation accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in the first month of the year to stay above the central bank's 2% target.
The benchmark consumer-price index rose 2.2% in January from a year earlier, following a 1.9% gain in December, on higher prices for groceries and energy products, the country's statistics office said Wednesday.
The latest print, the highest since July, beat the median forecast from 11 economists in a Wall Street Journal poll tipping a 2.0% gain for January.
The pickup in price growth was largely led by Lunar New Year holiday-driven demand for agricultural and fishery products as well as higher gasoline and diesel prices, according to analysts.
Compared with the prior month, the index gained 0.7% in January, also beating the median forecast in the WSJ poll for a 0.5% increase. In December, consumer prices rose 0.4% from the previous month.
Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 1.9% from a year earlier in January and gained 0.5% from the previous month.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-04-25 1824ET
