Seoul: South Korea's consumer prices rose at the 2 percent level for the fourth consecutive month in April, primarily driven by an increase in food and service costs, government data revealed on Friday. Consumer prices, which serve as a key indicator of inflation, increased 2.1 percent from the previous year in April, based on data from Statistics Korea.

According to Yonhap News Agency, this follows a 2.2 percent year-on-year rise in January, marking the steepest increase since July, and subsequent gains of 2 percent and 2.1 percent in February and March, respectively. The rise in consumer prices was attributed to higher costs in agro-fisheries products, industrial goods, as well as utility and service charges.

The data indicated that prices of agro-fisheries products and industrial goods increased by 1.5 percent, while utility costs rose by 3.1 percent and service costs went up by 2.4 percent. Notably, the prices of processed food products experienced a significant increase of 4.1 percent, largely due to the impact of a weak Korean won, which has raised the import costs of ingredients.

Conversely, the prices of petroleum products saw a decrease of 1.7 percent, influenced by a recent drop in global oil prices. Core inflation, which excludes the volatile categories of food and energy, grew 2.1 percent year-on-year, surpassing the 2 percent threshold for the first time in seven months.

Additionally, prices of daily necessities, encompassing 144 items closely tied to everyday living such as food, clothing, and housing, rose by 2.4 percent in April, maintaining the same growth rate as observed in the previous month.