South Korea's import prices continued to fall in January from a year earlier as oil prices showed no sign of rising, central bank data showed Wednesday.
In local currency terms, import prices dropped 19.2 percent on-year last month, quickening from a 13 percent on-year fall in December, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. It marks the 29th straight month in which import prices posted a decline.
From a month earlier, import prices tumbled 7.3 percent, also accelerating from a 5.1 percent fall in the previous month.
Weakening oil prices have been pushing down import prices. The monthly data showed that the price of Dubai crude oil, South Korea's benchmark, plunged 24 percent on-month to an average of $45.80 per barrel in January.
Export prices fell 8.5 percent, a pace of decline that nearly doubled from a 4.4 percent drop in the previous month. On a monthly basis, they declined 4.2 percent compared with a 2.6 percent fall in the previous month. (Yonhap)
