Korea’s consumer prices up 2.1% in 2025

SEOUL, 31st December, 2025 (WAM) — Consumer prices in the Republic of Korea, a key gauge of inflation, increased by 2.1 percent year-on-year in 2025, slightly above the Bank of Korea’s inflation target of 2 percent, government data showed on Wednesday.
According to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the figure marked the lowest annual inflation rate since 2020, when prices rose by 0.5 percent.
Inflation surged from 2.5 percent in 2021 to 5.1 percent in 2022, before moderating to 3.6 percent in 2023 and 2.3 percent in 2024, Yonhap News Agency reported.
In December, consumer prices increased 2.3 percent from a year earlier, exceeding the central bank’s target for the fourth consecutive month, largely due to rising import prices amid the weak Korean won.
Inflation stayed in the 2 percent range in June and July before easing to 1.7 percent in August and rebounding to 2.1 percent the following month, remaining in the 2 percent range thereafter.
The ministry attributed this month’s inflation mainly to a sharp increase in petroleum product prices, which jumped 6.1 percent from a year earlier, marking the largest on-year gain since a 6.3 percent rise in February.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 2.3 percent on-year in December, the ministry said.