South Korea's consumer prices rose over one percent for three straight months in March despite the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

According to Statistics Korea on Thursday, the country's consumer price index came to 105-point-54 last month, up one percent from a year earlier.

The nation's consumer prices had posted growth of under one percent for 12 straight months but then climbed one-and-a-half percent earlier in January and continued to post such growth for the next two months. 

In March, prices of livestock products jumped six-point-seven percent from a year earlier, and the price of processed foodstuff rose one-point-seven percent, amid a rising demand for food ingredients due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

However, automobile prices dropped two-point-six percent on a government tax break aimed at promoting consumption.