One line of Korea's CPI basket moved 8.7x the headline rate
Korea's headline consumer price index rose 3.09% from 2025-08 to 2026-08. The mobile-phone-fee sub-index alone rose 26.74% — from 80.52 to 102.05 — about 8.7x the headline pace.
Read this before the table: an index move, not a bill
This is a statistical sub-index move, not a report that any individual's phone bill rose 26.74%. A low base value a year earlier (80.52) can produce a large percentage change on its own. This page does not determine what set that base value — a promotional plan rolling off, a tariff change, or a survey-methodology change are all plausible and none is confirmed here.
Communications sub-index, 2025-08 vs 2026-08
| Category | 2025-08 | 2026-08 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headline CPI | 116.45 | 120.05 | 3.09% |
| Communications (all) | 87.87 | 102.48 | 16.63% |
| Telephone & fax services | 84.17 | 101.94 | 21.11% |
| Landline fee | 100.3 | 100.37 | 0.07% |
| Mobile phone fee | 80.52 | 102.05 | 26.74% |
| Internet fee | 100.62 | 100.62 | 0% |
Index base: 2020 = 100. Index level, not percent of household spending.
What this page does not say
- No cause for the mobile-fee base effect — only the index values and the gap between them.
- No verification of the finance ministry's separate 2.5% ex-effect estimate — only the raw KOSIS index.
- No individual household bill data — this is a survey-based price index, not billing records.
- Single year-on-year comparison; no multi-year monthly trend shown yet.
This is not investment advice.
Source
Statistics Korea (KOSIS), DT_1J22001 지출목적별 소비자물가지수 (consumer price index by purpose of expenditure), national, 2025-08 vs 2026-08.
Related
Korea producer vs import price gap. See what else is in the catalogue.