Korea's public sector debt hits record high of $1.18 tril. in 2024
Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance in the government complex in the central city of Sejong / Korea Times file
Korea's public sector debt surpassed the 1,700 trillion-won ($1.16 trillion) mark for the first time in 2024 largely due to an increase in treasury bonds and loans among non-financial state-funded firms, the finance ministry said Thursday.
The country's public sector debt, referred to as D3, came to 1,738.6 trillion won as of the end of last year, compared with 1,673.3 trillion tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
It marks the highest level since the government began compiling related data in 2011.
D3 covers general government debts and debt holdings of non-financial state-funded firms.
The size was equivalent to 68 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, according to the ministry. The comparable figure for 2023 was an all-time high of 69.5 percent.
The ministry attributed the increase to a rise in central government bonds resulting in increased general government debt, known as D2, and a higher debt level among non-financial state-funded firms stemming from an expansion of policy projects.
The amount of D2 also climbed to a record 1,270.8 trillion won last year, up from 1,217.3 trillion won tallied in 2023.
D2 covers the debt of the central and provincial governments and nonprofit public institutions. The country's D2-to-GDP ratio came to 49.7 percent, down from 50.5 percent in 2023.