Korea’s annual import prices rose at the fastest clip in three years primarily due to spikes in international crude oil and commodity costs, the central bank said Friday.

In local currency terms, the country‘s import prices grew 13.4 percent in 2011 from one year ago, accelerating from a 5.3 percent expansion tallied in 2010, according to the Bank of Korea.

Last year’s growth was the highest reached since 2008, when import prices jumped 36.2 percent from the previous year as the Korean won depreciated sharply against the U.S. dollar in the midst of a global financial crisis.

The latest numbers also showed South Korea‘s import prices rising 7.1 percent from a year earlier in December, which marked the slowest growth in 16 months.

Import prices edged up 0.2 percent last month compared to November as the Korean won lost ground against the U.S. dollar, making imports more expensive. In November, import prices shrank 1.6 percent from the previous month.

The annual gain in import prices for 2011 was attributable to rises in crude oil prices and agricultural product prices, which stemmed from adverse weather conditions. Such developments offset the relative strength of the local currency, the BOK said.

Prices of Dubai crude, South Korea’s benchmark, surged 35.6 percent annually in 2011. Raw material prices, including agricultural products, rose 27.6 percent last year from 2010.

On-year gain, however, slowed to the lowest level in December since August of 2010, as Europe‘s sovereign debt crisis dampened global demand for non-dollar assets, the BOK said.

“Because of Europe’s debt crisis, global demand declined, driving down prices of raw materials and most agricultural products,” said Lim Su-young, an economist at the BOK. “On the demand side, only the demand for the U.S. dollar was strong, while other investment alternatives saw their prices fall.”

Meanwhile, the country‘s export prices in Korean won grew 4.4 percent in 2011, a turnaround from a 2.6 percent contraction in 2010, according to the BOK, marking the first annual gain in three years.

On a monthly basis, export prices rose 2.5 percent on-year in December, easing from a 5.4 percent growth tallied in November, the BOK said.

Compared with the previous month, export prices drifted up 0.3 percent in the cited month, compared with a 2.3 percent contraction in November, as the value of the Korean won fell, the central bank said.

The data came ahead of the BOK’s monthly rate-review meeting later in the day.

The central bank is widely expected to freeze the key interest rate at 3.25 percent for the seventh straight month on still-high inflationary pressure even as Europe‘s debt crisis undermines growth outlook. (Yonhap News)