South Korea CPI rises 3.1% in August

South Korea's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.1% year-on-year in August, according to data released by the national statistics office. While petroleum product prices increased by 14.2%, the growth rate slowed compared to July. The government noted that the implementation of a petroleum price cap prevented the CPI from rising by an additional 0.5 percentage points.

Mobile communication fees saw a significant year-on-year increase of 26.7%, a trend attributed to base effects following large-scale price reductions by SK Telecom in 2025. This contributed to a 6.5% rise in public service prices, the highest increase since August 2001. Conversely, prices for agricultural, livestock, and aquatic products fell by 2.6%, though vegetable prices saw a monthly increase due to summer heat and seasonal demand.