SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Prices for goods and services among South Korean suppliers fell for the first time in 11 months as cheaper crude oil outweighed a heatwave-driven surge in agricultural product prices, central bank data showed Friday.
The producer price index (PPI) decreased 0.4 percent in July from a month earlier, marking the first downturn since August 2025, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Producer prices for industrial products, including oil products, shrank 0.5 percent in July, continuing to go down for a second straight month.
Prices for oil and chemical products dropped 5.1 percent and 1.3 percent each, while prices for computer, electronic and optical devices, including semiconductors, inched up 0.2 percent.
Prices for electricity, gas, water and waste retreated 0.6 percent in July on a monthly basis owing to an 11.8 percent plunge in residential electricity costs, caused by the government's easing of the progressive electricity billing system for the summer.
Services prices declined 0.4 percent, pulled lower by a 7.1 percent drop in financial and insurance services costs.
Prices for agricultural, forestry and fisheries products among suppliers climbed 1.5 percent in July compared to the previous month on the back of higher agricultural products prices, fueled by the prolonged extreme heatwaves and subsequent poor crop yields. ■