South Korea saw producer prices rise 2.3% year-on-year in May, accelerating from a 1.9% rise in the previous month, according to preliminary Bank of Korea data released today.
The gains were primarily driven by increases in some major sub-indexes in the month. Prices of agricultural, forestry and marine products grew by 5.4% and prices of electricity, gas, water and waste grew by 3.9%, while prices of manufacturing products gained 1.9% and service costs increased 2.4% in the month compared to the prior year period.
On a monthly basis, however, producer prices grew by 0.1% in May, down compared to the 0.3% increase in April.
Based on an essentially agricultural economy until the division from North Korea in 1948, in recent decades Korea has experienced the flourishing of a true economic miracle, thanks to a careful modernization effort begun in the 1960s and a policy of low wages and poor social protection, which allowed the South Korean industry to make its way into international markets (just remember the presence of giants such as Daewoo and Hyundai in the field of cars, as well as Samsung and LG in the field of electronics and computers) .
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
