An injured student is treated outside South Korea's producer prices declined for the 16th straight month in January as prices of raw materials including oil fell, the central bank said Tuesday.

The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, slid 0.3 percent in January from a year earlier, compared with a 0.4 percent on-year fall in December, according to the Bank of Korea.

On an on-year growth basis, producer prices have fallen every month since October 2012, when they fell 0.5 percent on-year.

Prices of Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, dropped 3.7 percent in January from a year earlier, according to the central bank.

Compared with a month earlier, producer prices rose 0.2 percent in January after rising an identical 0.2 percent on-month in December.

The data came as the BOK froze the key interest rate at 2.5 percent for the ninth straight month in February.

Korea's inflationary pressure is light as consumer prices ran below the BOK's 2.5-3.5 percent inflation target band for the 20th straight month in January.

Consumer prices grew 1.1 percent on-year in January, unchanged from the previous month, according to the statistics agency. (Yonhap)