Korea's inflation eases to 2.3 percent in July, slowest in 25 months

A customer shops for food at a discount mart in Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Korea’s consumer prices slowed for sixth consecutive month in July to grow 2.3 percent on year, Statistics Korea data showed Wednesday, marking the lowest in 25 months. 
 
Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation slowed from 2.7 percent in June, narrowing to the target inflation of 2 percent.  
 
Inflation was driven by electricity, gas and water prices that jumped 21.1 percent on year in July, followed by the service sector that grew 3.1 percent.  
 
Consumer prices for apparels and shoes soared 7.8 percent, while the figure for food and accommodations grew 5.8 percent in the same period. Transportation prices dropped 10.7 percent.
 
The Bank of Korea projected inflation to rise back to above 3 percent after August and stay at the level throughout the year-end. The central bank in May forecast the annual inflation for this year to reach 3.5 percent.  
 

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]