The number of time deposit accounts with balances of 100 million won or less hit the lowest level in six and a half years. Analysts said this is because the mood has shifted toward favoring higher-yield investments such as stocks over deposits.
According to the Bank of Korea's Economic Statistics System (ECOS) on the 5th, the number of time deposit accounts at commercial banks with balances of 100 million won or less stood at 21,629,000 at the end of last year.
This is the lowest figure since 20,700,000 accounts at the end of the first half of 2019.
The number of time deposit accounts of 100 million won or less rose for seven straight years from the end of the first half of 2016 (11,165,000 accounts) to the end of the first half of 2023 (34,341,000 accounts). It then fell sharply through the end of the first half of 2024 (22,945,000 accounts) and continued to decline through the end of last year.
The total deposits in time deposit accounts of 100 million won or less also fell 2.2% from a year earlier to 299.709 trillion won at the end of last year. The total deposits had increased for three years and six months from the end of 2021 (154.395 trillion won) to the end of the first half of last year (308.333 trillion won), setting an all-time high, before the uptrend reversed.
This appears to reflect the recent personal finance trend of seeking to grow money proactively rather than locking it into deposits. With the stock market gaining momentum as the KOSPI tops 6,000, more people are aiming for high-yield investments.