Gasoline up 23.1%, diesel up 33.3% — consumer prices post biggest rise in 26 months

South Korea's consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in two years and two months last month, driven by a sharp jump in petroleum product prices in the wake of the Middle East war.

The Ministry of Statistics said Monday that the consumer price index climbed 3.1 percent from a year earlier in May, reaching 119.92 (base year 2020=100). The reading matched the 3.1 percent gain recorded in March 2024 — the highest in 26 months.

Petroleum product prices surged 24.2 percent, their biggest increase since July 2022, when they jumped 35.2 percent shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine — a gap of three years and ten months.

Diesel prices rose 33.3 percent and gasoline 23.1 percent. Kerosene, widely used by lower-income households, climbed 21.7 percent.

Prices for agricultural, livestock and fishery products rose 2.2 percent, reversing a three-month decline. Vegetables fell 4.9 percent, but livestock products and seafood gained 5.8 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively.

The core index excluding agricultural products and petroleum — South Korea's domestic measure — rose 2.5 percent. The OECD's preferred gauge, which strips out food and energy, also gained 2.5 percent.

Service prices rose 2.8 percent.

Rising global oil prices sent international airfares up 33.5 percent. Overseas group tour costs jumped 26.3 percent and passenger car rental fees climbed 25.7 percent, both boosted by the May holiday period.

The everyday living price index, which tracks prices of goods and services most commonly purchased by households, rose 3.3 percent — the steepest increase since April 2024, when it gained 3.6 percent. The fresh food index, a gauge of dining table costs, fell 1.4 percent, pulled down by a 4.9 percent drop in vegetables and a 2.8 percent decline in fruit.