Seoul, April 2 (IANS) South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.2 per cent in March from a year earlier, mainly due to a hike in global oil prices caused by prolonged tensions in the Middle East, government data showed on Thursday.

The reading, which hovers above the government’s 2 percent inflation target, marks the steepest on-year increase since December, when inflation stood at 2.3 percent, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, reports Yonhap news agency.

The latest rise was driven by a surge in the price of petroleum products, which jumped 9.9 percent from a year earlier, marking the sharpest increase since October 2022, when the price spiked 10.3 percent on-year amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Notably, diesel and gasoline prices jumped 17 percent and 8 percent on-year, respectively.

“Gasoline demand is limited to passenger cars, whereas diesel is used for transportation and goods, which is why the increase was larger,” Lee Doo-won, a ministry official, said.

Global oil prices have risen sharply as the Strait of Hormuz has effectively been closed since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, disrupting global oil supplies. South Korea relies heavily on imports for energy.

Prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products edged down 0.6 percent, mainly due to a sharp drop in agricultural product prices, which fell 5.6 percent on-year. Prices of livestock and fishery products rose 6.2 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.

Service prices increased 2.4 percent from a year earlier, driven by higher insurance costs.

Processed food prices rose 1.6 percent on-year in March, slowing from 2.1 percent growth in the previous month, and also marking the lowest growth rate since November 2024.

Prices of sugar fell 3.1 percent on-year after factory prices were cut, and those of flour dropped 2.3 percent on-year.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.2 percent on-year last month, the ministry said.

The government said the increase in consumer prices, despite rising fuel prices, was partly tempered by a fuel price cap system, pledging to continue taking all-out efforts to stabilise prices amid ongoing volatility.

—IANS

na/