Inflation hits 15-month high / KBS 2025.11.04.　#KBSNews

Prices are rising again.

Inflation jumped 2.4% last month — the highest increase in 15 months.

Frequent rainfall drove up rice and fruit prices, while travel costs soared during the long Chuseok holiday.

Choi In-young reports.

[Report]

At a large supermarket, a 20-kilogram bag of rice now costs more than 65,000 won.

That’s up 21.3% from a year ago — the biggest rise since January 2019.

[Kim Kyung-eun/Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul: “Rice is so expensive now that instead of buying my preferred variety or brand, I just buy whichever one is on discount.”]

It’s also a burden when buying fruit.

Fruit prices, including apples (21.6%) and tangerines (22.9%), have risen by double digits.

Due to the autumn rainy season, the shipment of newly harvested rice and fresh fruits was delayed.

[Choi Kwang-sung/Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul: “Apple prices went up so much that it’s really hard to buy them. (What did you choose just now?) I picked ones that are mid-range, not the best quality.”]

The extended Chuseok holiday also pushed up costs.

Condominium rates rose 26.4%, car rental fees 14.5%, and overseas group tour prices 12.2%.

These personal service expenses alone drove overall inflation up by 0.72 percentage points, bringing October’s inflation rate increase to 2.4% — the highest in 15 months.

[Lee Doo-won/Director of Economic Statistics, Ministry of Data and Statistics: “The long Chuseok holiday in October particularly caused a sharp rise in travel-related items.”]

Meanwhile, ahead of kimchi-making season, prices for cabbage (-34.5%), radish (-40.5%), and red pepper powder (-0.8%) declined.

The Bank of Korea projects that as travel-related prices stabilize, overall inflation will ease to around 2% by the end of the year.

KBS News, Choi In-young.

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