South Korea's consumer prices grew by more than 2% in September, returning to the 2% range after one month, largely due to rising prices of essential food items, data showed Thursday.
Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, increased 2.1 % from a year earlier last month, South Korea's (Yonhap) news agency said, citing data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
Inflation had remained above the Bank of Korea's 2% target for four consecutive months through April before slowing to 1.9% in May. It then climbed again, staying above 2% in both June and July, before slowing down to 1.7% in August.
The service sector continued its upward trend, posting a 2.2% on-year gain.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, went up 2% in September, accelerating from August's 1.3% growth.
