Consumer prices in South Korea were up 1.3 percent on year in February, Statistics Korea said on Thursday.

That topped expectations for 1.0 percent and was up sharply from 0.8 percent in January.

On a monthly basis, inflation added 0.5 percent – also beating forecasts for 0.2 percent following the flat reading in the previous month.

Core inflation, which excludes the volatile costs of food, added 0.3 percent on month and 1.8 percent on year. That’s up from 0.2 percent on month and 1.7 percent on year in the previous month.

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