Despite a decline in global energy prices, the producer price inflation rate remained relatively high in December of last year due to factors such as exchange rates. According to the Bank of Korea’s ‘December 2025 Producer Price Index’ released on the 20th, last month’s producer prices rose 1.9% compared to the same month of the previous year, matching the level seen in November, which was the highest in 16 months. The month-on-month increase was 0.4%, up from 0.3% in November. This marks the fourth consecutive month of increases. Producer prices are reflected in consumer prices with a time lag.
By item, prices of beef rose 11.5% compared to the previous year, chicken by 8.8%, and apples surged 33.3%, with agricultural, forestry, and fishery product prices rising particularly sharply. Rice prices, which had been rising throughout the second half of last year, continued their high growth rate, increasing 22.8% compared to the same month of the previous year last month. Prices of coffee beans, which are entirely imported, rose 13.7% from the previous month as high exchange rates persisted. Industrial city gas prices fell 21.4% due to factors such as declining global crude oil prices.
Semiconductor prices also rose significantly due to increased demand driven by the AI boom. Last month, DRAM semiconductor prices surged 91.2% compared to the previous year, while flash memory prices increased 72.4%. Gold bar prices jumped 64.7% from the previous year due to the continued strength of gold prices.
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