8월 소비자물가 작년보다 0.7%↑…9개월째 0%대

Published : Sept 1, 2015 - 09:23 Updated : Sept 1, 2015 - 09:23

소비자물가 상승률이 9개월째 0%대를 기 록하고 있다.

경기침체 속에서 물가가 하락하는 디플레이션 우려가 여전히 계속됐다.

통계청이 1일 발표한 8월 소비자물가 동향을 보면 지난달 소비자물가 지수는 작 년 같은 달보다 0.7% 올랐다.

3개월째 같은 물가 상승률로 지난해 12월 0.8%를 기록한 뒤 9개월 연속으로 0% 대에 그치고 있다.

농산물 및 석유류를 제외한 근원물가는 1년 전보다 2.1% 상승해 8개월 연속 2% 대를 나타냈다.

경제협력개발기구(OECD) 기준 근원물가인 식료품·에너지제외지수는 1년 전보다 2.5% 상승해 역시 8개월째 2%대를 보였다.

생활물가지수는 작년 같은 달보다 0.1% 하락했고, 8월 무더위가 기승을 부린 탓 에 신선식품지수는 4.0% 올랐다.

농축수산물이 작년보다 3.4% 올라 가뭄이 영향이 컸던 7월(3.7%)보다 상승률이 낮았다.

국제유가 하락 영향으로 휘발유 가격은 16%, 경유가 20.1% 각각 떨어져 7월보다 하락폭이 커졌다.

김보경 통계청 물가통계과장은 "8월 들어 중동호흡기증후군(메르스)과 가뭄의 영향이 거의 사라졌고, 무더위 영향으로 채소값이 올랐다"면서 "9개월째 0%대에 머 물고 있지만 근원물가는 2%대를 유지하고 있다"고 말했다. (연합)

<관련 영문 기사>

S. Korea's consumer prices edge up 0.7 pct in Aug.

South Korea's consumer prices grew less than 1 percent for the ninth month in a row in August, a government report showed Tuesday, as Asia's fourth-largest economy grapples with deflation concerns.

The country's consumer price index inched up 0.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the report by Statistics Korea showed.

The latest number remains unchanged from 0.7 percent on-year growth tallied for July.

"Weak international oil prices are exerting a downward pull on overall inflation numbers," said Kim Bo-kyoung, head of the statistical agency's prices statistics division. "The lowering of utility prices, such as gas, electricity and water, further contributed to the weak price gain."

Oil product prices plunged 18.2 percent on-year in August, while gas, electricity and water charges dropped 11.3 percent.

Agrofisheries prices advanced 3.4 percent on-year last month.

The official said the agrofisheries sector increase was due to hot weather that affected vegetable prices.

The nation's core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, increased 2.1 percent from a year earlier, up marginally from a 2 percent gain reported for July.

August marks the eighth straight month that core inflation has grown more than 2 percent on-year, the statistical office said, adding that a core inflation number exceeding the 2 percent mark is a sign that people are spending.

In the service sector, prices gained 2 percent in August from the year before and were up 0.2 percent vis-a-vis July. The rise was attributed to higher rent costs, as well as gains in private and public service fees.

The report also showed the "living necessities" price index, which measures the cost of key products that people consume on a daily basis, contracting 0.1 percent on-year in the one-month period.

This marks the eighth time that the index has fallen into negative territory since the statistical agency started compiling such figures in 1995. Growth numbers have been falling generally since August 2014, with living necessities prices dropping to the minus side from January onward. (Yonhap)