As agricultural and livestock products and petroleum products continued to rise, the consumer price index rose 2.4% last month compared to the same month a year ago, recording a 2% increase for three consecutive months.
Consumer prices in the second quarter rose 2.5% from a year earlier, the highest rate since the first quarter of 2012.
The consumer price inflation rate gradually increased from January of this year, then rose to 2.3% in April and recorded 2.6% in May, the highest rate of increase in nine years and one month.
Agricultural and marine products such as eggs 54.9%, garlic 48.7%, and red pepper powder 35.0% rose 10.4%, leading to inflation.
Petroleum products such as diesel 22.4% and gasoline 19.8% also rose significantly, leading to an increase in industrial products.
Public services fell 0.6%, but personal services rose 2.5%, with insurance service fees rising 9.6%.
Rent rose 1.4%, with jeonse rising by 1.9% and monthly rent by 0.8%.
Excluding agricultural products and petroleum products, which are highly volatile, the core price, which shows the basic trend of prices, also rose 1.5%, showing an increase rate of more than 1% for four consecutive months since March.
Eo Woon-seon, director of economic trend statistics at Statistics Korea, said, "As the economy is recovering and the number of vaccinations is expanding, consumer sentiment has improved rapidly, so personal service prices are likely to continue to rise. "It is not expected to expand further," he explained, adding that "inflation will show a more stable rate in the second half than in the second quarter."