Seoul: South Korea's consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in five months in January, partly helped by the steady prices of petroleum products, government data showed Tuesday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, increased 2 percent from a year earlier last month, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

According to Yonhap News Agency, this marks the smallest on-year increase since August, when the figure stood at 1.7 percent. Inflation had remained above the Bank of Korea's 2 percent target for four consecutive months from September to December. The ministry attributed last month's slower growth primarily to petroleum product prices, which remained largely unchanged from a year earlier.

South Korea, which depends heavily on energy imports, is particularly vulnerable to external price shocks, which often drive domestic inflation. In December, petroleum product prices jumped 6.1 percent from a year earlier, marking the largest on-year gain since February, when their prices increased 6.3 percent.

Prices of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products rose 2.6 percent from a year earlier in January, marking the slowest growth since September. Still, some individual items posted sharp price increases, including rice, apples, and mackerel, whose prices jumped 18.3 percent, 10.8 percent, and 11.7 percent on-year, respectively, the ministry said.

Prices of industrial goods increased 1.7 percent, while electricity, gas, and water rates rose 0.2 percent. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, went up 2.3 percent on-year in January, the ministry said.