Consumer prices surge 4.1 percent in January

South Korea's consumer prices shot up sharply in January mainly due to a rise in agricultural and energy-related product costs that are fueling inflationary pressure, a government report showed Tuesday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, the country's consumer price index surged 4.1 percent last month from a year earlier. The number represents an increase from the 3.5 percent spike tallied in the previous month and equal to the 4.1 percent increase reported for October.

The numbers are also much higher than the 2.9 percent gain tallied for the whole of 2010.

From the previous month, consumer prices rose 0.9 percent, compared with the on-month gain of 0.6 percent tallied for December.

The report showed prices of fresh agricultural and food products jumping 30.2 percent from a year earlier with oil and energy costs moving up 10.9 percent. (Yonhap)