Korea's food prices rose at the third-highest rate among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in May on unfavorable weather conditions, a report showed Thursday.
Local food prices rose 6.4 percent in May from a year earlier, only behind 6.7 percent for Chile and 6.6 percent for Iceland, according to the OECD report. The OECD average was 2.6 percent for that month.
The sharp rise in South Korean food prices was attributed to a prolonged drought that sent costs of agricultural products soaring.
Fresh food prices jumped 13.9 percent in May from a year earlier, with the price of Chinese cabbages soaring 96.1 percent. Energy prices advanced 5.7 percent, much higher than the OECD average of 2 percent.
However, South Korea's core inflation rate, which excludes volatile oil and food costs, rose 1.5 percent on-year in May, hovering below the OECD average of 1.9 percent, the report showed.
In May, South Korea's consumer prices rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier, with the growth rate slowing to 2.2 percent in June. (Yonhap)