September Consumer Prices Up 2.9%... Petroleum Soars 14.8% (Update)

The consumer price inflation rate in September returned to the 2% range for the first time in two months. However, the impact of international oil prices led to a greater increase in petroleum prices, and the rise in the prices of processed foods caused the pace of industrial product price increases to accelerate.

According to the “Consumer Price Trend for September 2026” released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on October 2, last month’s consumer prices rose by 2.9% year-on-year. This year’s inflation rate rose from 2.6% in April to 3.1% in May and 3.2% in June, then dropped to 2.8% in July, and has since alternated between increases and decreases with a 3.1% rise in August and a 2.9% rise in September.

On the 17th, a citizen visiting a large supermarket in Seoul is looking at the egg sales counter. Fresh eggs imported from the United States, Thailand, and Brazil had their price lowered from 5,890 won to 4,980 won per 30 eggs starting from the 16th. Photo by Yonhap News.

Service prices increased by 2.7% year-on-year, down from August’s 3.7%. In particular, the growth rate of public services dropped sharply to 1.5%, down from 6.5% in the previous month. This is attributed to the normalization of telecommunications service prices, as the base effect from the mobile phone bill discounts implemented in August last year diminished. The prices for personal services rose by 3.5%, with dining out up by 2.5% and non-dining personal services rising by 4.3%.

In contrast, petroleum and industrial product prices pushed up inflationary pressure. The price of petroleum products rose by 14.8%, further increasing from August’s 14.2%. Their overall contribution to inflation also expanded from 0.54 percentage points in August to 0.56 percentage points in September. The year-on-year rates of diesel (20.0%), gasoline (11.8%), and kerosene (19.5%) all rose compared to the previous month.

Prices of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products fell by 0.3% year-on-year, maintaining a downward trend for the second consecutive month. Agricultural product prices dropped by 4.0%, and vegetable prices remained at the same level as a year earlier. Looking at specifics, increased shipments of fruits such as apples (-9.2%), napa cabbage (-15.2%), peaches (-14.7%), and grapes (-10.3%) led to price declines in these categories.

The livability price index, which measures perceived inflation, rose by 0.7% from the previous month and by 2.5% year-on-year. The fresh food index, which tracks items affected by seasonal and weather factors, fell by 3.3% year-on-year, thanks to declines in fresh fruit (-11.1%) and fresh vegetables (-0.1%). The OECD standard core inflation index, which excludes food and energy, rose by 2.8% year-on-year, while the index excluding agricultural goods and petroleum products increased by 2.7%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.