Producer prices saw a rebound in January after posting a decline for two straight months.

The Bank of Korea on Thursday reported that the producer price index for all commodities and services stood at 120-point-29 last month, up zero-point-four percent from a month earlier.

The index, a key barometer of future inflation, rose after falling for two months in a row, with an on-year increase of five-point-one percent continuing the trend of slowing gains for the seventh consecutive month.

The cost of utilities including electricity, gas and water rose four percent in January from a month earlier.

The rise in the January index is mainly attributed to hikes in electricity prices, which soared ten-point-nine percent last month, the largest gain in 43 years since surging 37-point-one percent in February 1980.

Prices of agricultural, forestry and fishery products rose zero-point-six percent on-month, while prices of industrial products dropped one-tenth of a percent on-month.