SEOUL, April 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's headline inflation logged the lowest in a year last month due to a double-digit fall in oil products prices, statistical office data showed on Tuesday.
The consumer price index (CPI) came in at 110.56 in March, up 4.2 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. It was the lowest since March last year when the index rose 4.1 percent.
After peaking at 6.3 percent in July last year, the headline inflation had roughly been on the decline to 5.7 percent in October, 5.0 percent in December and 4.8 percent in February this year.
Last month's slower inflation was driven by a sharp fall in oil products price.
Price for industrial products, including oil products, gained 2.9 percent in March from a year earlier, after advancing 5.1 percent in February and 6.0 percent in January.
Oil products price tumbled 14.2 percent last month, continuing to slide for the second consecutive month. It marked the fastest decrease in over two years since November 2020.
Prices for gasoline, diesel and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) dipped 17.5 percent, 15.0 percent and 8.8 percent respectively.
Processed food price picked up 9.1 percent in March after going up 10.4 percent in the previous month.
Price for agricultural, livestock and fishery products climbed 3.0 percent in March from a year earlier, higher than a gain of 1.1 percent in February.
Agricultural products price jumped 4.7 percent on higher vegetable price, but livestock products price retreated 1.5 percent on lower beef price.
The country's headline inflation remained high, topping the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s mid-term target of 2 percent for 24 months in a row.
The still high inflation was led by surging public utility rates, such as electricity charge and heating bills.
Price for electricity, natural gas and tap water soared 28.4 percent in March from a year earlier, marking the highest increase since relevant data began to be compiled in 2010.
Electricity bill jumped 29.5 percent, while city gas and heating cost spiked 36.2 percent and 34.0 percent respectively.
Private services price, including eating-out cost, went up 5.8 percent in March after rising 5.7 percent in the previous month. Public services price added 1.2 percent.
Expense for dining out gained 7.4 percent last month, and the services price excluding the eating-out cost increased 4.6 percent.
Housing rent, including Jeonse (key money deposit) and monthly rent, was up 0.9 percent in March, lower than a gain of 1.1 percent in February.
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.
The livelihood items index, which gauges price for daily necessities, climbed 4.4 percent in March from a year earlier, after gaining 5.5 percent in the previous month.
The fresh food index, which measures the price of fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetable, advanced 7.3 percent in March, after growing 3.6 percent in the prior month.
Demand-side inflationary pressure hovered high. The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile agricultural and oil products, increased 4.8 percent in March, surpassing the headline inflation of 4.2 percent.
The OECD-method core price, excluding volatile energy and food costs, gained 4.0 percent last month. ■