South Korea's import prices growth hit 10-month low in December due to drop in oil prices and slumping demand, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said on Thursday.

According to the BOK, country's import prices climbed 22.4 percent in December from a year earlier, compared with a 32 percent gain in the previous month.

The December figure marked the slowest growth since February 2008 when import prices marked a 22.2 percent advance, the central bank said.

"In December, the import price growth slowed amid falling oil prices and weaker demand due to a global recession," said Lee Byung-doo, an official at the BOK. "In January, price growth seems to be experiencing a downward trend, given dipping oil prices and eased downward pressure on the won."

For the whole year of 2008, however, import prices went up 36.2 percent due mainly to oil price peaks over the summer and a weaker local currency recording the steepest gain since 1980 when they jumped 58.9 percent, the BOK added.

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2009)