Fruit prices in Korea jumped by 37% this year

Korea’s fruit and vegetable prices rose the highest among the top 10 economies in the world, including G7, the Eurozone, and Taiwan. It was also ranked second in terms of energy price increases, including gasoline, exposing vulnerability to climate change, geopolitical instabilities in the Middle East, and other external factors.

Nomura Securities' comparison of monthly average inflation prices in G7 countries, the Eurozone, and Taiwan from January to March this year showed that Korea increased by 3%, after the U.K. (3.5%) and the U.S. (3.3%). Japan was 2.6%, while Taiwan was 2.3%.

Korea’s increase in the rate of fruits/vegetables was significantly higher than that of other countries. The monthly price increase of fruit prices in Korea was 36.9%, 2.5 times higher than Taiwan's (14.7%), which ranked second. The price increase rate was 10.7%, the highest among all ten countries.

Experts pointed out that the Korean economy had exposed vulnerabilities such as climate change and geopolitical instability in the Middle East. “It is difficult for a small-scale open economy system like Korea’s to respond to external variables,” said Kim Mi-ru at the Korea Development Institute. “The government and the Bank of Korea should exert their best efforts to manage inflation considering possible Middle East crisis escalation and higher utility service prices, such as electricity and gas.”


이동훈 기자 dhlee@donga.com