SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's headline inflation topped 3 percent for four straight months in January due to a higher price for farm goods and oil products, statistical office data showed Friday.
The consumer price index (CPI) stood at 104.69 in January, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
The consumer price inflation hovered above 3 percent for the fourth consecutive month, with 3.2 percent in October, 3.8 percent in November and 3.7 percent in December respectively.
The headline inflation surpassed the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s mid-term inflation target of 2 percent for 10 months on the back of higher supply-side inflationary pressure.
To tackle the inflationary pressure, the BOK raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.25 percent in January, after lifting the key rate by 25 basis points in August and November last year.
Price for industrial products, including oil products, advanced 4.2 percent in January from a year earlier.
Oil products price surged 16.4 percent last month, with prices for gasoline and diesel soaring 12.8 percent and 16.5 percent each.
Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, averaged 83.5 U.S. dollars per barrel in January, up from 73.2 dollars in the previous month.
Processed food price gained 4.2 percent on a higher bread price.
Price for agricultural, livestock and fishery products went up 6.3 percent in January on a yearly basis.
Livestock products price jumped 11.5 percent owing to the double-digit growth in prices for egg, pork and imported beef, while agricultural products price increased 4.6 percent on expensive fruit in winter.
Price for electricity, natural gas and tap water picked up 2.9 percent in January, marking the highest growth in over four years since September 2017.
Electric charges spiked 5 percent last month, logging the fastest increase since September 2017. Water supply bills expanded 4.3 percent, recording the highest in over 13 years since May 2008.
Private services price climbed 3.9 percent in January from a year earlier amid a higher eating-out cost, after gaining 3.4 percent in the prior month.
Expense for dining-out jumped 5.5 percent last month owing to expensive food ingredients, while costs for insurance services and housing management soared 13.4 percent and 4.3 percent each.
Public services price added 0.9 percent in January on the back of the government's efforts to stabilize utility cost.
Housing rent, including Jeonse and monthly rent, moved up 2.1 percent in January from a year earlier, after going up 2.0 percent in December.
Jeonse is South Korea's unique contract between two households where a landlord grants the two-year residential right to a tenant who in turn lends a certain amount of money, or deposit, to the landlord.
Core consumer price, which excludes volatile agricultural and oil products, was up 3.0 percent in January on a yearly basis. It marked the highest in 10 years since January 2012.
The OECD-method core price, which excludes food and energy cost, increased 2.6 percent in January after climbing 2.2 percent in the prior month.
The livelihood items index, which measures price for daily necessities, went up 4.1 percent in the cited month.
The fresh food index, which gauges price for fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetable, advanced 6.0 percent last month on higher fruit price. ■
