South Korea's import prices fell for two months in a row to hit an eight-month low in December due to a plunge in crude oil prices.

According to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Tuesday, the import price index came to 85-point-01 last month, down three-point-four percent from a month earlier. 

The index, which slipped four-point-five percent last November, dropped for the second consecutive month. 

The central bank said the recent downside trend of crude oil prices dragged down South Korea's overall import price index. The average price of Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, decreased 12-point-six percent on-month to 57-point-32 dollars in December.

For the whole of 2018, the import price index rose six-point-three percent to 87-point-13, while the export price index stayed nearly steady at 85-point-73.