Fruit prices jump the most in 32 years

Fresh fruit prices rose 41.2 percent in February, the largest increase in more than 32 years, according to the latest consumer price trend released by Statistics Korea. A shopper chooses strawberries at Cheongnyang-ri fruit and vegetable market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 6. By Soobin Han

Last month, inflation in Korea rose back to the 3 percent range in a month. This was due to the increase in international oil prices and a large increase in the price of fresh food such as fruits and vegetables. The rate of increase in fresh fruits, such as apples and pears, was the highest in more than 32 years.

According to the February Consumer Price Trend released by Statistics Korea on March 6, consumer prices rose 3.1 percent last month from a year earlier. Inflation, which was above 3 percent from August to December last year, fell to 2 percent in January this year (2.8 percent) and returned to the 3 percent range in a month.

The increase was driven by fluctuations in energy prices due to the rise in international oil prices and higher prices for fresh foods, such as agricultural, livestock and fisheries products.

In particular, the fresh food index increased by 20 percent on-year. Of this, the increase in fresh fruits stood at 41.2 percent, the largest in 32 years and five months since September 1991 (43.9 percent). In terms of fruits alone, the price of apples and tangerines rose 71 percent and 78.1 percent, respectively, while that of pears (61.1 percent), tomatoes (56.3 percent), and strawberries (23.3 percent) also rose sharply.

Statistics Korea explained that the increase in fruit prices was due to the fact that fruit prices were stable at the beginning of last year, which served as a base effect, in addition to the poor harvest.

Fresh vegetable prices also rose 12.3 percent, which is the largest increase in 11 months after a 13.9 percent increase in March last year.

Affected by skyrocketing fruit prices, the price of agricultural products increased by 20.9 percent, pushing up the country’s overall inflation by 0.80 percentage points.

Amid the rise in international oil prices, the decline in oil prices was only 1.5 percent, down from the previous month (-5 percent). Its contribution to overall inflation also declined to -0.06 percentage points from -0.21 percentage points in January.

Service prices rose 2.5 percent, slightly shrinking from the previous month (2.6 percent). The increase in eating-out prices stood at 3.8 percent, the smallest in 28 months since October 2021 (3.4 percent).

The consumer price index (CPI) for living necessities, which shows actual prices perceived by households as it is composed of items representing all goods and services purchased for daily life by households, rose 3.7 percent. After peaking in October last year (4.5 percent), the increase rate of the index slowed down to 3.4 percent in January this year, but the rate picked up again in four months.

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, said at a meeting held at the Government Complex in Seoul, "The downward trend of prices has slowed down somewhat due to rising international oil prices and strong agricultural prices," adding, "We will take the situation seriously and do our utmost to stabilize inflation in the 2 percent range as soon as possible.”

The Bank of Korea also held a meeting to review the country’s inflation. Deputy Governor Kim Woong said, "Inflation will slow down due to low domestic pressure unless oil prices surge," but added, "There is a lot of uncertainty related to geopolitical risk development and domestic and international economic trends."

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.