Risk and sentiment
Korea CPI YoY
Year-over-year Korean consumer price inflation.
At a glance
Korea CPI YoY: latest value and prior change
As of 2026-06-30, Korea CPI YoY is 3.16 %. It is 0.02 pp higher than 3.14 % on 2026-05-31.
Across 126 available observations from 2016-01-31 to 2026-06-30, the latest value is at the tie-adjusted 80th percentile.
- Observed on
- Default comparison window
- 2016-01-31–2026-06-30
- Observations · observed cadence
- 126 · Monthly
- Data source
- Bank of Korea ECOS
A high or low percentile does not by itself make the indicator positive, negative, or a buy or sell signal.
Time-series chart
Korea CPI YoY
2016-01-31–2026-06-30
Long-history series are stored as real provider observations. Index, FX, VIX, and ratio charts use historical backfill where providers expose it; Korean investor flow and margin-credit feeds expand as stable historical endpoints become available.
Interpretation guide
Korea CPI YoY: measuring the distance to the Bank of Korea's 2% target
Korea CPI YoY is the year-over-year change in the Statistics Korea consumer price index, and it is the exact number the Bank of Korea anchors its inflation-targeting framework to. Released early each month, its distance from the 2% target is the starting point for reading policy direction.
Think in distance from 2%
The Bank of Korea targets 2% consumer inflation. Markets react less to the print itself than to the gap versus target and the speed at which that gap is closing.
- Extended periods well above 2% tend to push rate-cut expectations further out.
- Several months of convergence toward 2% typically opens the door to a policy-pivot debate.
- Readings below 1% can flag demand weakness, raising easing hopes and growth worries at once.
The base-effect trap
Every year-over-year series is hostage to base effects. If prices spiked in the same month last year, this year's print can look tame regardless of the underlying trend.
- First check for one-off factors a year ago, such as an oil spike or utility-price resets.
- Cross-check whether core inflation, published alongside the headline, is moving the same way.
- Treating a base-effect-driven dip as durable disinflation invites misjudgment when it rebounds.
Transmission to equities and the won
CPI YoY reaches KOSPI and the won through rate expectations. Upside surprises pressure growth-stock valuations via longer-tightening fears, while downside surprises often do the opposite.
- On an above-consensus print, watch the BOK Base Rate path and the Korea Treasury 10Y reaction together.
- If Korea PPI YoY rolled over first, a CPI slowdown is more likely to stick.
- Falling inflation is not automatically bullish — the reason it fell matters more than the fall itself.