South Korea Inflation Tops Expectations in September

South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.1% year-on-year in September 2025, picking up from a 1.7% increase in August and surpassing market expectations of 2%. It marked the first acceleration in three months, highlighting renewed price pressures in the economy. The uptick was mainly driven by higher food prices, which surged 3.2% from a year earlier, while non-food items advanced 2.1%. Additional upward pressure came from services, industrial goods, agricultural and marine products, and utilities such as electricity, gas, and water. On a monthly basis, inflation climbed 0.5% in September, reversing from a 0.1% decline in August and exceeding the consensus forecast of 0.4%. The data could complicate the Bank of Korea’s policy stance, as the central bank continues to balance the need to support a slowing economy with the risk of reigniting inflation.