2024-04-21 17:52:32
It was found that Korea’s food price inflation rate, including food and beverages, ranked 3rd among member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This is analyzed as a result of the continued high prices of fruits and vegetables.
According to data compiled by the OECD on the 21st, Korea’s inflation rate for ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ in February was 6.95%, exceeding the OECD average (5.32%). Among the 35 member countries where statistics were compiled, it was the third highest after Türkiye (71.12%) and Iceland (7.52%).
Global food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose sharply before and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia is the world’s largest producer of wheat and natural gas, and Ukraine is the world’s third to fifth largest exporter of wheat.
Due to the war between the two countries, the average food price inflation rate in OECD member countries, which was below 5% until 2021, soared to 16.19% in November 2022. Food prices in Korea also showed a high level, rising 5-7% during the same period.
However, recent food prices are showing differences between OECD and Korea. The OECD food price inflation rate fell to within the 10% range in July of last year (9.52%) and then to the 5% range in February of this year.
On the other hand, Korea’s rate bottomed at 3.81% in July of last year, then rose again to the 5-7% range after October, and exceeded the OECD average in February of this year.
The reason why food prices have soared is because of the rise in fruits such as apples and pears. Apple prices last month rose 88.2% from a year ago, the largest increase since January 1980, when statistics began to be compiled.
In addition, high oil prices and high exchange rates due to the recent conflict between Israel and Iran are also putting pressure on consumer prices. A high exchange rate can raise the price of imported raw materials, pushing up the prices of processed foods further.
The government is only predicting price stability in the second half of the year.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok recently said, “There are many factors of anxiety and we need to look at various situations further, but since core prices are stable, prices will stabilize downward in the second half of the year.”
(Sejong = News 1)
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2024-04-21 17:52:32