Producer prices declined in August, largely due to a significant drop in mobile phone charges following a data breach at a leading telecom provider.

The Bank of Korea(BOK) reported Tuesday that the producer price index, a key indicator of consumer inflation, for all commodities and services stood at 120-point-12 in August, down zero-point-one percent from the previous month, marking the first decline in three months.

The BOK noted that had SK Telecom not slashed its rates following a large-scale data breach that exposed the SIM cards of 23 million subscribers earlier this year, producer prices would have risen by zero-point-two percent from July.

The prices of agricultural products and livestock increased by three-point-four percent in August from the previous month while those of industrial goods remained unchanged.

Gas, water and electricity prices also stayed flat, and those of services fell by zero-point-four percent.