In October 2026, consumer prices rose 2.8 percent year on year, as prices of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products declined by 1.7 percent from a year earlier, despite increases in prices of processed foods (2.9%) and other items.
Core inflation, which better reflects underlying price trends by excluding volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.8 percent year on year (2.8% in September). The CPI for living necessities, which consists of items that account for a large share of household spending, rose 2.6 percent year on year (2.5% in September).
The price cap on petroleum products is estimated to have lowered the October consumer inflation rate by 0.8 percentage points. Without the measure, consumer prices are estimated to have risen 3.6 percent year on year in October.
Consumer Price Index
|
(%) |
2025 |
2026 |
|
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
|
y-o-y |
2.4 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
2.6 |
3.1 |
3.2 |
2.8 |
3.1 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
|
m-o-m |
0.3 |
-0.2 |
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.1 |
-0.2 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.2 |
Core Inflation
|
(y-o-y, %) |
2025 |
2026 |
|
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
|
CPI excluding food and energy prices |
2.2 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
2.6 |
3.4 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
|
CPI excluding agricultural product and petroleum prices |
2.5 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.5 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
2.5 |
2.4 |
2.5 |
3.1 |
2.7 |
2.8 |
CPI for living necessities
|
(y-o-y, %) |
2025 |
2026 |
|
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
|
CPI for living necessities |
2.5 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
2.2 |
1.8 |
2.3 |
2.9 |
3.3 |
3.4 |
2.5 |
3.2 |
2.5 |
2.6 |
The government will continue to closely monitor prices of items essential to people’s daily lives and strengthen the structural foundations for price stability. It will also assess potential supply and demand risks for major agricultural, livestock, and fishery products ahead of the winter season, including the kimchi-making season, and take proactive measures to address them.
Please refer to the attached files.
