▲ A citizen looks at a shelf of processed foods on May 30, 2022, at a discount store in Seoul amid high-flying inflation. (Yonhap)

consumer prices-May

Inflation growth hits nearly 14-year high in May on high energy prices

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's consumer prices rose at the fastest clip in almost 14 years in May due to high energy and food costs over the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine and the economic recovery, data showed Friday.

Consumer prices jumped 5.4 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 4.8 percent on-year spike in April, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It marked the steepest on-year increase since August 2008, when consumer prices soared 5.6 percent. Inflation growth also exceeded 5 percent for the first time since a 5.1 percent rise in September 2008.

Consumer prices rose above 2 percent -- the central bank's inflation target over the medium term -- for the 14th straight month in May.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and oil prices, advanced 3.4 percent on-year last month, the highest since February 2009.

South Korea faces growing inflationary pressure as crude oil and other commodity prices have risen due to Russia's war with Ukraine and global supply disruptions. Demand-pull inflation has also increased amid the economic recovery.

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