Südkorea Verbraucherpreise

South Korea's annual inflation rate increased to 1.9% in December 2024, up from 1.5% in November, surpassing the market's expectations of 1.7%. It marked the highest inflation rate since August, with food prices rising the most in five months (2.5% vs 1.3%) and transport prices rebounding (1.3% vs -1.1%). However, inflation remained below the central bank's 2% target for the 4th consecutive month. Last month, the Bank of Korea unexpectedly reduced its benchmark rate by 25 bps to 3%, marking the first instance of back-to-back rate cuts since 2009. The central bank revised its inflation projections for 2024 and 2025, lowering them to 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively, down from previous forecasts of 2.5% and 2.1%. Last week, the BOK announced it would lower interest rates further next year to ease downward pressure on economic growth. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.4% in December, rebounding from a 0.3% drop in November, above forecasts of a 0.2% rise, and the most in four months.