SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's headline inflation posted a six-month high last month as typhoon and heavy rains raised farm goods price, statistical office data showed Tuesday.
The consumer price index (CPI) stood at 106.20 in September, up 1.0 percent from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea. It was the fastest increase since March, rising above 1 percent in six months.
The consumer price inflation declined from 1.0 percent in March to 0.1 percent in April, before recording minus 0.3 percent in May. Since then, it continued to rise from 0.3 percent in July to 0.7 percent in August.
The September rebound was attributed to the prolonged rainy season and typhoon that lifted farm goods price.
Price for agricultural, livestock and fishery products advanced 13.5 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the highest in nine and a half years since March 2011.
Agricultural product price picked up 19.0 percent on expensive vegetable. Price for napa cabbage and white radish jumped 67.3 percent and 89.8 percent each, with apple price jumping 21.8 percent.
Livestock product price gained 7.3 percent in the month, and fishery product price increased 6.0 percent.
The fresh food price index, which gauges cost for 50 major items of fish, shellfish, vegetable and fruit, jumped 21.5 percent last month, marking the highest growth since February 2011.
Price for industrial products shrank 0.7 percent in September from a year earlier amid the cheap global crude oil.
Oil product price diminished 12.0 percent last month, while processed food price added 1.2 percent.
Price for electricity, natural gas and tap water retreated 4.1 percent in the month.
Private services price inched up 0.5 percent last month as people refrained from outside activity such as eating out amid the lingering worry about the COVID-19 outbreak.
Public services price fell 1.4 percent in September as the government strengthened financial support for education, such as the support for high school tuition fee.
Home rent went up 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier, logging the fastest rise in almost four years since November 2016.
Core consumer price, which excludes volatile agricultural and oil products, added 0.9 percent in September from a year ago. The OECD-method core price, which excludes food and energy cost, rose 0.6 percent last month.
The demand-side inflationary pressure remained low as the COVID-19 pandemic roiled the economy.
To prop up the lackluster economy, the country's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 0.50 percent in May after slashing it by 50 basis points in March.
In the latest tally, South Korea reported 75 more cases of the COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the combined number of infections to 24,239. The daily caseload stayed below 100 for the sixth straight day.
The finance ministry said the COVID-19 pandemic and weather conditions would serve as a key factor to the moves of consumer price inflation, vowing to focus on the stable supply of stockpiled farm goods when necessary. Enditem
