South Korea’s Producer Price Index fell 0.4% month-on-month to 129.39 in July 2026, the first monthly decline in 11 months after a flat June reading, while annual growth slowed to 7.7% from 8.5%. Cheaper international oil pulled coal and petroleum products down 5.1% and chemical products down 1.3%, and brokerage commissions fell 16.8% during a stock-market correction, outweighing heatwave-related food increases. July consumer prices rose 2.8% year-over-year, cooler than June’s 3.2%, and one-year expected inflation eased to 2.7%. After last month’s first base-rate rise in three and a half years, to 2.75%, analysts say the slowdown has somewhat lowered the chance of a consecutive hike at the Monetary Policy Board meeting on the 27th. New deputy governor Kwon Min-soo said policy would be set in a balanced, careful and flexible way that weighs side effects of higher rates alongside prices, the exchange rate and household debt, though August oil, city-gas and base-effect pressures could lift inflation again.