South Korea Dec producer inflation slows for sixth month

A shopkeeper waits for customers at a traditional market in Seoul, South Korea, Jan 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File photo

SEOUL  – South Korea’s producer inflation slowed in December for a sixth month, dropping to the lowest rate in 20 months, central bank data showed on Friday.

The country’s producer price index stood 6 percent higher in December than a year ago, compared with 6.2 percent in November, according to the Bank of Korea.

The annual rate slowed for a sixth consecutive month, from a near 14-year high of 10 percent in June, and marked the slowest since April 2021.

The index fell 0.3 percent on a monthly basis, at the same pace seen in November, in its second month of declines.

For the whole of 2022, producer prices rose at an annual rate of 8.4 percent , faster than 6.4 percent in 2021 and the fastest in 14 years.