SEOUL, May 6 (Reuters) - South Korea's consumer prices rose in April at the steepest pace in nearly two years, as expected, on a surge in oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict.
The consumer price index rose 2.6% in April from a year earlier, after rising 2.2% in March, government data showed on Wednesday, matching the median 2.6% rise forecast in a Reuters poll and marking the biggest year-on-year rise since July 2024.
On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.5%, after rising 0.3% in the previous month, as prices of petroleum products jumped 7.9% over the month, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Chris Reese)