SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's consumer sentiment turned downward due to increased exchange rate volatility and rising prices of daily necessities, central bank data showed Wednesday.
The composite consumer sentiment index, which gauges consumers' sentiment about the economic situation, fell 2.5 points from a month earlier to 109.9 in December after going up 2.6 points in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.
The downturn was attributed to higher living costs and widening fluctuations in the won versus the U.S. dollar exchange rate.
The sub-index for current economic situation dropped 7 points to 89 in December compared to the previous month, while the index for economic outlook retreated 6 points to 96.
Inflation expectations, which measure consumers' outlook for headline inflation over the next 12 months, stood unchanged at 2.6 percent in December on a monthly basis.
After peaking at 4.7 percent in July 2022, the inflation expectations had roughly been on the decline.
The result was based on a survey of 2,268 households conducted from Dec. 9 to 16. ■
