By Kwanwoo Jun
South Korea’s headline inflation accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in August, picking up again after six straight months of cooling.
The benchmark consumer-price index gained 3.4% from a year earlier in August, faster than the prior month’s 2.3% increase that kept inflation at a 25-month low, the country’s statistics office said Tuesday.
That beat the median market forecast of 2.8% for August and was above the central bank’s 2.0% annual target.
The uptick in inflation was due to higher prices for services, utilities, industrial goods and agricultural products, the office said.
Compared with the prior month, the index gained 1.0% in August after a 0.1% rise in July.
Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.3% from a year ago and 0.3% from a month earlier in August, compared with the gains of 3.3% and 0.2%, respectively, in July.
Some analysts maintain that despite temporary upside risks, inflation in South Korea should trend lower after peaking at a multi-decade high of 5.1% in 2022.
The central bank expects inflation to average 3.5% in 2023 and 2.4% in 2024.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
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