consumer prices-September

Inflation growth hits over 2 pct for 6th straight month in Sept.

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's consumer prices grew more than 2 percent for the sixth consecutive month in September due to high prices of farm and oil products, data showed Wednesday, indicating a build-up of inflationary pressure amid an economic recovery.

The consumer prices rose 2.5 percent in September from a year earlier, slowing from a 2.6 percent on-year gain in August, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

Compared with a month earlier, consumer inflation rose 0.5 percent last month.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and oil prices, rose 1.5 percent on-year last month, the highest since October 2017.

The country's inflation has been under upward pressure as the economic recovery accelerates.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its 2021 inflation outlook to 2.1 percent from its earlier estimate of 1.8 percent. The BOK aims to keep annual inflation at 2 percent over the medium term.

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