Household loans in the financial sector increased by nearly 42 trillion won last year.
According to the provisional data on household loan trends in 2024 released by the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service on the 15th, household loans in the financial sector increased by 41.6 trillion won last year.
The increase in household loans was more than four times higher compared to 2023 (10.1 trillion won). While the surge in household loans exceeded 100 trillion won annually in 2020 and 2021, this increase is modest, but it shows a trend of expansion again following a decline in 2022 (-8.8 trillion won).
By loan category, mortgage loans increased by 57.1 trillion won, widening the increase compared to the previous year (45.1 trillion won), while other loans, including credit loans, continued to decline; however, the reduction narrowed by more than half from 35 trillion won to 15.5 trillion won.
By sector, household loans in the banking sector amounted to 46.2 trillion won, an increase of about 9 trillion won compared to the previous year (37.1 trillion won). Among these, mortgage loans reached 52.1 trillion won, a level similar to 2023 (51.6 trillion won).
Policy loans, including the DiDimDol and BuTimBok loans, increased by 39.4 trillion won last year, while the banks' own mortgage loans rose by 31.6 trillion won. Policy mortgages decreased by 18.9 trillion won. Other loans are on a declining trend, with the reduction narrowing from 14.5 trillion won in 2023 to 5.9 trillion won.
Household loans in the second financial sector decreased by 4.6 trillion won. The reduction was less than the previous year (27 trillion won). While the non-bank financial sector saw increases of 3.2 trillion won, savings banks increased by 1.5 trillion won, and insurance by 500 billion won, mutual finance experienced a decrease of 9.8 trillion won.
The financial authorities noted, "Overall, household debt was managed stably within the current growth rate last year," adding that, "Expectations for interest rate cuts led to lower loan interest rates, and an increase in transactions centered in the metropolitan area expanded the upward trend of household debt after April; however, due to the implementation of the second phase of the Debt Service Ratio (DSR) and the autonomous management efforts of the financial sector, the upward trend has slowed since September."
Looking at the monthly changes in household loans, there was a sharp increase of 9.7 trillion won in August last year, followed by declines in September (5.4 trillion won), October (6.5 trillion won), November (5 trillion won), and December (2 trillion won). This change is attributed to banks raising the barrier for loans as part of the financial authorities' efforts to reduce household debt.
The financial authorities stated, "This year, financial institutions are encouraged to maintain an autonomous household loan management stance from a risk management perspective and to continuously establish a loan management system centered on repayment capacity evaluation, aiming to consistently manage the annual household debt growth rate within the current growth rate."