S. Korea's core inflation grows much faster than OECD average: data

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's core inflation in April grew at a much faster pace than the average price hike among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), data showed Thursday.
According to the data offered by each nation of the Paris-based organization, South Korea's core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.7 percent in April from a year earlier. That is higher than the OECD average of 1.6 percent.
The figures are based on a slightly different method used by the OECD in measuring core inflation.
The OECD excludes agricultural, fishery and livestock products along with energy prices in gauging core inflation. South Korea, however, excludes only agricultural prices along with those of oil products. Seoul earlier reported that its core inflation jumped 3.2 percent in April.
Based on the OECD surveys, Korea's core inflation grew at the eighth-fastest pace among its member countries.
Turkey topped the list with a 4.2 percent gain, followed by Britain, Norway, Israel and Slovakia with 3.7 percent, 3.4 percent, 3.3 percent and 3.0 percent hikes, respectively, the data showed.
Korea's consumer prices also grew at a relatively faster clip than other countries. Its consumer prices jumped 4.2 percent in April from a year earlier, the sixth-fastest increase among the member nations, following Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Britain and Turkey, according to the data.
The data came a day after South Korea unveiled its latest consumer price hikes. The government announced Wednesday that its consumer prices grew 4.1 percent in May, slowing from a 4.2 percent growth in April.
The figure, however, represented the fifth consecutive month that consumer prices rose over 4 percent. South Korea's core inflation gained 3.5 percent in May from a year earlier, marking the highest advance in 23 months.
kokobj@yna.co.kr