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| Groceries are on display at a supermarket in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Yi Whan-woo
The cost of dining out rose to the highest level seen in more than 30 years, while the prices of some vegetable items jumped more than 90 percent despite a slowdown in overall consumer price growth in Korea in September for the second straight month, according to Statistics Korea, Wednesday.
The September statistics come amid speculation that a hike in utility fees beginning this month could add to upward inflationary pressure, which is apparently unwelcomed by the government that forecast inflation to pass its peak and cool off in October.
The government accordingly announced it will take measures to curb the prices of vegetables and other factors that increase inflationary pressure.
Consumer prices in September grew 5.6 percent from a year earlier, after reaching a near 24-year high of 6.3 percent in July, only to fall to 5.7 percent in August.
Statistics Korea attributed the back-to-back slowdown in inflation mainly to a fall in global oil prices.
Prices of Dubai crude, Korea's benchmark, stood at $90.95 per barrel on average in September, down 5.68 percent from the previous month.
Nevertheless, the cost of dining out jumped 9 percent year-on-year, the highest since July 1992 when it also rose 9 percent.
The price of fried chicken jumped 10.7 percent, hamburgers by 13.5 percent and raw fish by 9.6 percent.
Due to heavy rainfall in August, vegetable prices surged 22.1 percent last month.
In particular, the prices of two main kimchi ingredients ― cabbage and radish ― jumped 95 percent and 91 percent, respectively, as kimchi-making season approaches.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and oil prices, rose 4.1 percent year-on-year last month, although it remained unchanged from August.
The prices of 144 daily necessities ― including food, clothing and housing ― jumped 6.5 percent year-on-year in September.
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