SEOUL South Korea's consumer inflation eased for a fourth consecutive month in May to the lowest level in 19 months, data showed on Friday, matching market expectations.

The consumer price index stood 3.3% higher in May than a year earlier, the Statistics Korea data showed, compared with a 3.7% rise in the previous month and 3.3% forecast in a Reuters survey.

It marked the slowest rise since October 2021, having peaked at a near 24-year high of 6.3% in July 2022.

On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.3% in May, after a 0.2% increase in April, extending its run of gains to a sixth consecutive month.

By product, agricultural prices rose 0.5% over a month earlier, while utility prices jumped 2.2%. Petroleum products dropped 1.4%, however, dragging the annual rate lower.

The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 3.9% higher in May than the same month a year earlier and marked the slowest increase in 10 months.

It was the second straight month that the annual core inflation rate had stayed above the headline rate, following its 4.0% rise in the previous month.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)