The amount of household debt reached a new high in September at an average of 29.21 million won per family.
According to the Household Credit Trends of Third Quarter (July through September) report from Bank Of Korea, household debt, including bank loans and purchases charged through credit cards, increased by 8,613 billion won during this period and is estimated to now be 439.94 trillion won.
Household debt, the evaluation of household credit by the household number, has also increased 60,000 won reaching 29.21 million won during the three months. Both the household credit balance figure and total household debt reached its highest records ever.
The reports household debt measurement did not include bonds that financial institutions deemed to be write-off debts. Bank of Korea estimates that the actual amount of household debt per family actually exceeds 30 million won.
Due to the fastidious standards in getting a bank loan, many people turned to mutual savings banks and credit unions such as Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, National Credit Union Federation of Korea or the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, said Cho Sung-jong, the director general of Bank of Korea. Because these institutions have relatively higher lending rates, the number of people deemed to be credit risks is not likely to fall.
Currently, the amount of money on loan from these institutions has increased by 4.9 trillion won since the end of June.
On the other hand, consumption via credit card has decreased by 61,300 billion won since then.