By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
South Koreans are burdened by high food prices that are rising at a significantly sharper rate than most other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries.
The prices of energy-related commodities have also increased at a faster clip in Korea than the average OECD country, indicating that the current economic downturn may be pinching Korean consumers harder.
According to a recent OECD report, food prices in the 30 member countries rose by an average of 0.6 percent in July, which is lower than the collective 1.8 percent rise reported in June.
However, food prices in Korea rose by 6.9 percent in July, about 11 times higher than the OECD average. Iceland, Mexico, Turkey and New Zealand were the only other OECD countries that saw their food prices rise at a higher rate than Korea during the month.
Food prices in advanced nations dropped, with the G7 ― the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and Canada ― averaging a fall of 0.3 percent. Food prices in the U.S. dropped by 0.9 percent during July, while Germany saw a 2.1 percent drop.
Prices in Japan and France dropped by 1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Canada, Britain and Italy, however, saw their food prices increase marginally.
Consumer prices in the OECD nations dropped 0.6 percent in July, compared to the 0.1 percent decline in June. The prices of energy-related commodities dropped by an average of 18.1 percent during the month, the OECD said.
Consumer prices in the member countries of the European Union declined by 0.7 percent in July, while the U.S. and Japan both saw about a 2-percent decline during the same month.