Last month's consumer prices rose 2.8% from a year earlier, staying in the high-2% range for the second month after September. Prices of petroleum products and processed foods widened their gains, while agricultural, livestock and fishery products fell.
The National Data Agency said in its 'October Consumer Price Trends' released on the 3rd that the October consumer price index came to 120.73 (2020=100).
This year's inflation rate rose into the 3% range in May and June, when petroleum prices soared because of the Middle East war. It then eased to 2.8% in July, rose again to 3.1% in August, and stayed in the high-2% range in October after 2.9% in September.
Petroleum products led the increase. Petroleum prices jumped 14.9%, pushing up the overall rate by 0.56 percentage point. It is the biggest rise since July (15.5%). Processed foods rose 2.9%, a bigger gain than in September (2.1%), the highest in 11 months since November last year (3.3%). Eating-out prices also rose 2.9%, the steepest rise since February (2.9%), and contributed 0.42 percentage point to the overall rate.
By contrast, agricultural, livestock and fishery products fell 1.7%, lowering overall prices by 0.14 percentage point, continuing a decline for a third month. Agricultural product prices fell 7.5%, and vegetables, among them, fell sharply by 11.2%. Livestock products rose 4.8% and fishery products 5.4%. The rise in fishery products was the largest since January (5.9%).
The living cost index, which is composed mainly of frequently purchased items and is closer to perceived prices, rose 2.6%. The fresh food index, known as 'dining table prices,' was 6.2% lower than a year earlier. The core index excluding food and energy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) measure of core inflation, rose 2.8%.