South Korea's consumer prices grew less than 1 percent for the eighth month in a row in July, a government report showed Tuesday, as Asia's fourth-largest economy grapples with deflation concerns.

The country's consumer price index inched up 0.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the report by Statistics Korea showed.

The latest number remains unchanged from 0.7 percent on-year growth tallied in June.

"Weak international crude prices are continuing to influence overall consumer inflation," said Kim Bo-kyoung, head of the statistical agency's prices statistics division. "The lowering of utility prices, such as gas, electricity and water, further contributed to weak price gains."

Oil prices plunged 17.3 percent on-year in July, while gas, electricity and water charges fell 11.3 percent. On the other hand, agrofisheries prices advanced 3.7 percent last month.

The official said the agrofisheries sector increase was due to unfavorable weather conditions that affected output and costs.

The country's core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, increased 2 percent from July 2014 and remained unchanged from on-year growth tallied for the previous month. July marked the seventh straight month that core inflation grew by more than 2 percent on-year, the statistical office said.

The statistical office said that the core inflation rate exceeding the 2 percent mark is a sign that people are spending.

In the service sector, prices gained 2 percent in July from the year before and were up 0.6 percent vis-a-vis June. The rise was attributed to higher rent costs, as well as gains in private and public service fees.

The report also showed the "living necessities" price index, which measures the cost of key products that people consume on a daily basis, contracting 0.1 percent on-year in the one-month period.

This marks the seventh time that the index has fallen into negative territory since the statistical agency started compiling such figures in 1995. Growth numbers have been falling generally since August 2014, with living necessity prices dropping to the minus side from January onward.

The finance ministry said supply-side factors such as low crude oil prices again affected consumer price gains in July. It said such trends offset the rise in public transportation and farm prices.

Despite weak prices, the country's expected inflation rate released by the Bank of Korea stood at 2.6 percent in July, up from 2.5 percent the month before. This rate is a barometer of future inflation as predicted by economic factors.

"A rise in crude prices and gradual economic recovery are expected to push up consumer price numbers in the coming months," it said.

The ministry noted that it is keeping close tabs on energy, education, rent, medical and communication-related market prices that have a direct impact on people's everyday lives. (Yonhap)