Jeju Inflation Slows to 2.7%; Personal Services Excluding Dining Rise 4.2%

【Financial News Jeju = Reporter Jeong Yong-bok】Jeju Province’s consumer price inflation rate fell back to the 2% range in September, reaching 2.7% after just one month. Although it was below the national average of 2.9%, personal services excluding dining rose 4.2%, indicating that upward pressure on the cost of everyday services remained.
According to the Consumer Price Trends for September 2026 released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on the 2nd, Jeju Province’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 119.71, up 2.7% from the same month last year. It rose 0.3% from the previous month.
Jeju Province’s inflation rate fell by 0.4 percentage points in one month, from 3.1% in August. Over the same period, the national rate declined by 0.2 percentage points, from 3.1% to 2.9%.
Jeju Province’s September inflation rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than the national rate. By region, Daegu and Incheon Metropolitan City recorded the lowest rates at 2.6% each. Jeju Province, Seoul, Busan, and Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City followed at 2.7% each. Gangwon State posted the highest rate at 3.3%, followed by North Chungcheong Province and North Jeolla Province at 3.2% each, and Gyeonggi Province and Gyeongsangbuk-do at 3.0% each.
Unlike the slowdown in overall inflation, services continued to post a high rate of increase. Personal service prices in Jeju Province rose 3.1% from the same month last year. Public service prices increased 1.1%.
The difference becomes clearer when personal services are broken down. Dining prices in Jeju Province rose 1.6%, while personal services excluding dining increased 4.2%. The latter was 1.5 percentage points higher than the overall consumer inflation rate of 2.7%.
Personal services excluding dining include various everyday services and services used by individuals. Even if overall inflation slows, continued price increases in this sector could mean that the burden of recurring household spending on services does not ease quickly.
The trend was similar compared with the national figures. Personal services nationwide rose 3.5%, 0.4 percentage points higher than in Jeju Province. National dining prices increased 2.5%, 0.9 percentage points higher than in Jeju Province.

However, personal services excluding dining rose 4.3% nationwide and 4.2% in Jeju Province, leaving a gap of just 0.1 percentage points. Although overall prices in Jeju Province rose 0.2 percentage points less than nationwide, the difference was minimal in everyday services other than dining.
Service prices moderated somewhat compared with the previous month. Personal service prices in Jeju Province fell 0.6% from August. Dining prices declined 0.2%, while personal services excluding dining fell 0.9%. Public service prices were unchanged from the previous month.
The simultaneous monthly decline and 4.2% year-on-year increase reflects the different comparison bases. Prices were lower than the previous month but remained high compared with one year earlier.
Nationwide, manufactured goods prices posted a notable increase. Manufactured goods rose 4.2% in September from the same month last year, with petroleum products climbing 14.8%. By spending purpose, transportation increased 7.7% and recreation and culture rose 5.8%. In contrast, agricultural, livestock, and fishery products fell 0.3%. The fresh food index also declined 3.3%.
As inflation slowed, consumer sentiment in Jeju Province rose above the baseline again.
The Composite Consumer Sentiment Index (CCSI) for Jeju Province, released by the Bank of Korea Jeju Office, stood at 100.9 in September. A CCSI above 100 indicates that consumer sentiment is more optimistic than the long-term average, while a reading below 100 indicates pessimism. The national CCSI stood at 106.6, 5.7 points higher than in Jeju Province.
Although Jeju Province’s inflation rate fell below the national rate and consumer sentiment recovered to above 100, the two indicators alone do not mean that the perceived burden on households has eased significantly. Personal services excluding dining rose 4.2%, far exceeding the overall inflation rate.
The key feature of Jeju Province’s September prices was not simply that the overall inflation rate fell to the 2% range, but the divergence within the price data. Overall inflation slowed to 2.7%, while personal services other than dining, which households use regularly, continued to rise at a rate in the 4% range.
[email protected] Jeong Yong-bok Reporter