Korea's September inflation slows to 2.9 percent as farm prices fall

South Korea's consumer prices rose 2.9 percent in September from a year earlier, slowing from 3.1 percent in August, as agricultural and fisheries prices fell for a second consecutive month, the National Data Office said Friday.

The government estimated that its cap on petroleum product prices shaved 0.6 percentage points off September's headline inflation. Without the measure, consumer prices would have risen 3.5 percent from a year earlier, it said.

Core inflation measures also cooled. The index excluding food and energy rose 2.8 percent from a year earlier, down from 3.4 percent in August, while the index excluding agricultural products and petroleum rose 2.7 percent from 3.1 percent. The living necessities index, which tracks goods and services bought frequently by households, rose 2.5 percent, easing from 3.2 percent a month earlier.

"September consumer prices rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier even as processed food prices climbed, as agricultural and fisheries prices fell for two consecutive months on the back of policy efforts," the finance ministry said.

The government plans to tighten supply and price management for individual agricultural and fisheries items and to keep working to improve their distribution channels, while pressing ahead with petroleum price stabilization through the price cap and fuel tax cuts and with support for vulnerable households, the ministry said.

The National Data Office also said it will revamp the index's representative items and weights to a 2025 base, with the revised figures scheduled for publication in December 2026.