Seoul: South Korea's consumer prices grew at the 2 percent level in June, mainly driven by higher costs of industrial goods and services, government data showed Wednesday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, increased 2.2 percent from a year earlier last month, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
According to Yonhap News Agency, inflation had remained above the Bank of Korea's 2 percent target for four consecutive months through April before slightly easing to 1.9 percent in May. The statistics agency attributed the June increase to the depreciation of the local currency, which led to higher import prices for industrial goods. A steady rise in service prices also contributed to overall inflationary pressure.