South Korea's Oct inflation accelerates to near decade-high

[SEOUL] South Korea's consumer inflation accelerated to a near 10-year peak in October and remained above the central bank's 2 per cent target for a seventh straight month, as prices of oil products, fresh foods and housing rentals continued to rise.

October consumer prices jumped 3.2 per cent from a year earlier, government data showed on Wednesday, the fastest growth since January 2012 and up from a 2.6 per cent rise in September.

That matched a 3.2 per cent increase tipped by analysts in a Reuters survey.

Month-on-month inflation rose 0.1 per cent, slowing from September's 0.5 per cent rise but in line with forecasts.

Core inflation rose 2.4 per cent year-on-year, the fastest growth since December 2015 and up from September's 1.5 per cent rise.

REUTERS