S. Korea ranks 10th in food prices among OECD countries

S. Korea ranks 10th in food prices among OECD countries. June. 04, 2018 07:27. by Jun-Il Kim jikim@donga.com.
South Korea ranked 10th in terms of the food price increase rate among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations, according to the organization’s latest report.

According to data released by the OECD on Sunday, South Korea’s food prices rose 2.9 percent year-on-year in April, placing the country on the 30th among 36 member nations. Except for Norway (3.9 percent) and Germany (3.3 percent), countries that showed higher food price growth rates than that of South Korea were all developing countries. The rates were markedly higher in Turkey (8.8 percent), which is currently going through economic instability, Mexico (5.0 percent) and Poland (4.1 percent).

The country’s food prices had remained at a low level since the fourth quarter last year. The country’s ranking slipped to 30th in January with its increase rate at -0.3 percent, after recording 1.7 percent in October (19th), 0.5 percent in November (26th) and 0.2 percent in December (29th). Yet, the sudden cold spell in February affected output of fresh produce such as vegetables, and made the rate jump back.

Though the OECD has yet released its data, South Korea’s food consumer prices moved up to 2.5 percent in May due to spikes in vegetable prices according to the state agency. As the prices of rice, which is most influential in inflation, continued to advance from March to May, it is likely that food prices will continue to be on a steady increase.