Data released by the Bank of Korea on Wednesday showed that South Korea's Producer Price Index (PPI) rose at its fastest pace in nearly four years during March, driven by increasing global oil prices which pushed up costs for petroleum and chemical products.
According to preliminary figures from the central bank, the PPI, a key indicator of future consumer inflation, increased by 1.6% month-on-month to 125.24 last month. This marks the largest monthly rise since April 2022 and continues an upward trend that began in September.
Compared to the same period last year, the producer price index climbed 4.1% in March, the quickest annual pace since February 2023.
The increase was primarily driven by a 3.5% monthly rise in industrial product prices, with coal and petroleum product prices surging 31.9% and chemical product prices increasing by 6.7%.
In contrast, prices for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products fell by 3.3% month-on-month, while service prices remained unchanged.
The data also indicated that the domestic supply price index, which reflects both producer and import prices, rose 3.7% in March compared to the previous month.
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