The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI), which gauges the sentiment of consumers over economic situation, rose 1.9 points over the month to 101.6 in January after gaining 2.4 points in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The continued improvement was attributed to export recovery, slower inflation and expectations for the end of the tightened monetary policy in the United States.
Outbound shipment expanded 5.1 percent in December 2023 on a yearly basis, continuing to grow for the third successive month.
Consumer prices went up 3.2 percent in December from a year earlier, lower than an increase of 3.3 percent in the prior month.
The headline inflation topped the BOK's mid-term inflation target of 2 percent for 33 months in a row.
The BOK had left its policy rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January last year, after hiking it by 3.0 percentage points for the past one and a half years.
Inflation expectations, which measure the outlook among consumers over headline inflation for the next 12 months, stood at 3.0 percent in January, down 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous month.
It has marked the lowest in 22 months since March 2022.
After peaking at 4.7 percent in July 2022, the inflation expectations had roughly been on the decline.
The results were based on a survey of 2,347 households conducted from Jan. 9 to Jan. 16.
Latest comments