SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's headline inflation hit the highest in 14 months in January on expensive farm goods and oil products, statistical office data showed Tuesday.
The consumer price index gained 1.5 percent in January from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. It was the highest in 14 months since November 2018, topping the 1 percent mark in 13 months.
The headline inflation posted the first-ever negative figure in September last year, before rebounding to 0.2 percent in November and 0.7 percent in December respectively.
The rebound was attributed to higher prices for agricultural and oil products.
Price for agricultural, livestock and fishery products advanced 2.5 percent in January from a year earlier. Vegetable price jumped 15.8 percent in the month, marking the fastest since August 2017.
Price for white radish, napa cabbage and lettuce jumped in double figures, but those for potato, garlic, sweet potato and tangerine declined in double digits.
Livestock and fishery products increased 3.4 percent and 6.0 percent each ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday last month.
The price for industrial products was up 2.3 percent on expensive oil products. The price for oil products jumped 12.4 percent in the month, raising the overall headline inflation by 0.49 percentage points.
Price for electricity, tap water and natural gas climbed 1.5 percent in January from a year ago.
Services price gained 0.8 percent on higher costs for private services that advanced 1.7 percent in the month.
Public services declined 0.5 percent in the month on the government's measures to expand social welfare services.
Housing rent fell 0.2 percent in January, keeping a downward trend for the ninth consecutive month since May last year.
The government unveiled a series of measures to control speculative investment in the real estate market, helping lower both housing prices and rent.
Core consumer price, which excludes volatile agricultural and oil products, added 0.9 percent in January from a year earlier. It stayed below 1 percent, but the reading was the highest since August last year.
The OECD-method core consumer price, which excludes energy and food costs, went up 0.8 percent in the month.
The so-called livelihood cost index, which gauges price for daily necessities, rose 2.1 percent last month, the fastest in 14 months.
The fresh food index, which measures cost for fish, shellfish, vegetable and fruit, spiked 4.1 percent in January from a year earlier, marking the highest in 13 months.
The statistical office forecast that the consumer price inflation would hover around the mid-1 percent this year.
The country's headline inflation stayed below 1 percent last year as the previous year's index remained at a relatively high level.
Expectations for the headline inflation was still below the BOK's inflation target of 2 percent, lifting a possibility for the faster-than-forecast policy rate cut by the central bank.
The BOK lowered its benchmark interest rate from 1.75 percent to 1.50 percent in July last year, before slashing it further to a record low of 1.25 percent in October.
Speculation emerged that the central bank may cut the target rate further later this year to stimulate the faltering economy.
