Household Debt Tops W600 Tril. for 1st Time
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
South Korea's total household debt exceeded 600 trillion won for the first time ever on sharp rises in commercial loans.
The Bank of Korea said that household debt grew by 14.2 trillion won ($15.4 billion) in the July-September period from a quarter earlier to 610.6 trillion won at the end of September. In the second quarter, it grew 9.9 trillion won.
Household debt includes credit purchases and loans for households extended by the nation's financial institutions, including commercial lenders and mutual savings banks.
Per household debt reached 38.19 million won.
The BOK said although household debt jumped in the third quarter, the growth was lower than a 23.1-trillion-won growth in the fourth quarter of last year when lenders competitively pumped out loans to households amid soaring housing prices.
Loans extended by lenders rose by 13.8 trillion won in the third quarter, compared with a 9.4-trillion-won gain in the previous quarter.
Lending by banks rose by 6.11 trillion won in the July-September period after rising 2.19 trillion won in the previous quarter, mainly because home-backed loans increased and lending to households rose, the BOK said.
As of the end of September, outstanding household debt amounted to 610.6 trillion won, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier, the BOK added.