South Korea Inflation Rate

Last Release

Dec 31, 2025

Actual

2.3

Units In

2.4

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Feb 04, 2026

Time to Release

1 Months 3 Days 22 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
32.5 Oct 1980	-0.4 Sep 2019	6.73 %	1966-2025	Statistics Korea

In South Korea, the most important categories in the consumer price index are Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (17 percent of total weight) and Food and non-alcoholic beverages (13.6 percent of total weight). Others include Restaurants and hotels (12 percent); Education (11.4 percent); Transportation (10.9 percent); Health (7.3 percent); and Clothing and footwear (6.2 percent). The components with the least weight are Communication at 5.8 percent; Miscellaneous goods and services at 5.4 percent; Recreation and culture at 5.3 percent; Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance at 3.8 percent; and Alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 1.24 percent.

Latest Updates

South Korea’s annual inflation rate inched lower to 2.3% in December 2025 from 2.4% in the previous two months, marking the lowest level since September and aligning with market forecasts. However, the latest result remained above the central bank’s 2% target for a fourth straight month. Price growth eased for food & non-alcoholic beverages (3.6% vs 4.7% in November), furnishings, household equipment & routine maintenance (2.7% vs 2.8%), health (1.0% vs 1.1%), recreation & culture (1.2% vs 1.4%), and education (1.6% vs 1.7%). At the same time, the costs of alcohol and tobacco were flat after edging up 0.1% previously. Meanwhile, inflation held steady for clothing (at 2.3%), transport (at 3.2%), and communication (at 0.4%), but was higher for housing (1.3% vs 1.2%), restaurants & hotels (3.0% vs 2.9%), and miscellaneous goods & services (4.9% vs 4.2%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.3%, reversing a 0.2% decline in November.