SEOUL, April 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's consumer price rose faster last month owing to a rapid hike in oil product prices, driven by the Middle East tensions, statistical ministry data showed Thursday.
The consumer price index (CPI) gained 2.2 percent in March from a year earlier after climbing 2.0 percent in February, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
The headline inflation stayed above the central bank's mid-term inflation target of 2 percent for the seventh straight month since September 2025.
Price for industrial products, including oil products and processed food, swelled 2.7 percent in March compared to the same month of last year, higher than a growth of 1.2 percent in the previous month.
Oil products' price jumped 9.9 percent last month, raising the overall inflation by 0.39 percentage points. It was the fastest in almost three and a half years since October 2022.
Prices for gasoline and diesel soared 8.0 percent and 17.0 percent each, but prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for vehicles retreated 6.1 percent.
Processed food price mounted 1.6 percent in March from a year earlier, down from an increase of 2.1 percent in the previous month.
Price for agricultural, livestock and fishery products sank 0.6 percent in March from a year earlier, turning downward from an increase of 1.7 percent in the previous month.
Agricultural products price tumbled 5.6 percent, pulling down the overall inflation by 0.25 percentage points. Prices for livestock and fishery products grew 6.2 percent and 4.4 percent each.
Rice price surged 15.6 percent, but those for tangerine, napa cabbage, white radish, onion, pear and carrot posted a double-digit fall.
Prices for pork, beef, egg and mackerel expanded in single figures.
Price for electricity, natural gas and tap water was up 0.2 percent in March on a yearly basis.
City gas charge, heating cost and waterworks fee added in single digits, but the electricity bill fell 0.4 percent.
Service prices gained 2.4 percent last month, lifting the headline inflation by 1.29 percentage points. Public service price grew 1.0 percent.
Private service price, including eating-out cost, mounted 3.2 percent last month.
The eating-out expense expanded 2.8 percent, and the private service price excluding the dining-out cost advanced 3.5 percent.
Housing rent, including Jeonse and monthly rent, was up 0.9 percent in March from a year earlier.
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 a deposit, to the landlord.
The livelihood items index, which gauges price for daily necessities, climbed 2.3 percent in March on a yearly basis, while the fresh food index, which measures price for fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetables, dropped 6.6 percent.
Demand-side inflationary pressure lingered. Core consumer price index, which excludes volatile agricultural and oil products, appreciated 2.3 percent last month.
The OECD-method core price, excluding volatile energy and food costs, picked up 2.2 percent in the cited month. ■
