SEOUL, - In 2023, the average South Korean household owes more than 90 million won (US$68,260) to banks and other financial institutions. This debt accumulation is primarily due to borrowing for home purchases and covering living expenses, as revealed in data published on Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Statistics Korea's data shows that the average household debt as of the end of March this year stood at 91.86 million won, marking a 0.2 percent increase from the previous year. Loans from financial institutions comprised 72.9 percent of this debt, totaling 66.94 million won, which is a slight decrease from the previous year's percentage.
The debt-to-asset ratio for households in 2023 climbed to 17.4 percent, a 0.7 percentage point increase from the previous year.
The same data also indicated that the average South Korean household held assets worth 527.27 million won as of the end of March this year, a decrease of 3.7 percent from a year earlier.
Household income saw a 4.5 percent year-on-year increase, totaling 67.62 million won, including 43.90 million won from earned income and 12.06 million won from business revenue.
The survey, which included data from 20,000 households across the country, was conducted jointly by Statistics Korea, the Bank of Korea, and the Financial Supervisory Service from March 31 to April 17, 2023. It revealed that 17 percent of the families were headed by retired individuals, with an average retirement age of 62.7 years. Moreover, 58.4 percent of these families reported financial difficulties in meeting daily expenses.