Torrential rain adds to concerns over soaring food prices

Rice paddies are submerged due to heavy rains in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, Saturday. Yonhap

Record-breaking torrential rain is raising concerns that food prices could increase further after they were previously affected by scorching heat, putting upward pressure on consumer inflation, according to economists, Monday.

The heavy rainfall lasted from Wednesday to Sunday. The average amount of rain per day in many regions nationwide was unusually massive — an amount that occurs only once in 200 years, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs estimated that a total of 24,247 hectares (242.47 square kilometers) of farmland across the country were flooded.

The size of these farmlands is equivalent to 39.6 percent of the size of Seoul.

They produce a range of vegetable and fruit crops, which already experienced rising prices after yields were disrupted by one of the country’s most intense heat waves earlier this month.

“The damage from heavy rain following the heat wave is feared to accelerate price hikes of temperature-sensitive foods and add to the woes of the people’s livelihoods,” said Jung Ho-chul of the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), a civic activist group.

One of the affected agricultural products is perilla leaves, which were priced at 2,661 won ($1.91) per 100 grams Friday, up from 2,502 won on July 7.

Friday’s price was also 9.42 percent higher than in June and marked a 14.95 percent increase from a year earlier.

The average price for a watermelon climbed to 30,886 won Friday, up from 30,065 won Tuesday, when it surpassed the 30,000 won mark for the first time in any July.

Friday’s watermelon price represents a whopping 41 percent hike from June as well as a 44.6 percent rise from the previous year.

Livestock products are no exception to the price increase, as the torrential rain left more than 1.03 million animals dead, including 900,000 chickens.

That 1.03 million figure surpassed the entire 2023 monsoon season's total number of animal losses, 912,000.

A tray of 30 premium-grade eggs has been selling at 7,031 won on average this month, a 6.72 percent increase from a year earlier.

For a broiler chicken, the price ticked up 6.9 percent to 5,952 won per kilogram over the same time period.

Shin Se-don, honorary professor of economics at Sookmyung Women’s University, noted that the unstable food prices will likely pull up overall consumer inflation, which increased 2.2 percent from a year earlier in June.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), consumer prices grew at their fastest pace in five months, breaching the BOK’s inflation rate target of 2 percent once again after it had eased to 1.9 percent in May following four consecutive months spent above the targeted rate.

Shin also noted that the 2023 monsoon season was “a major driver behind the sharp rise in consumer inflation in the same year,” when inflation climbed from the 2 percent range to the mid-3 percent range.

“Fresh produce makes up a significant part of people’s grocery lists, and that contributes significantly to total inflation increase,” the professor said.