SEOUL (Reuters – South Korea’s consumer price indexes rose in April at a faster pace than was expected, surpassing the previous year by more than 13 percent.

Statistics Korea data revealed that the consumer price index in Korea rose by 4.8% in April compared to a year ago. This is faster than the 4.1% increase in March and much quicker than the 4.4% gain reported in a Reuters poll.

This was the highest annual growth rate since October 2008, and it was above the central bank’s target of 2% for the 13th consecutive month.

After rising 0.7% in March, the index rose 0.7% monthly.