SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s consumer inflation quickened in December, exceeding market expectations, official data showed on Tuesday, but it was still lower than the central bank’s target.
The consumer price index rose 1.9% in December from a year earlier, after a rise of 1.5% in November, according to Statistics Korea.
It was the fastest year-on-year rise in four months and faster than a median 1.7% increase forecast in a Reuters survey of economists, but weaker than the central bank’s medium-term target of 2%.
In 2024, the CPI rose 2.3%, after rising 3.6% in 2023, marking the slowest annual rise in four years.
