hankyoreh

ClipartKorea

The total amount of outstanding loan debt among young Koreans in their 20s surpassed 90 trillion won (US$75.3 billion) last year.

According to materials obtained from the Financial Supervisory Service and released on Thursday by Democratic Party lawmaker Jin Sun-mee, who sits on the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee, the level of debt among those in their 20s has steadily risen over the past three years to reach 91.7892 trillion won as of the end of June this year.

The level of debt began to sharply increase starting in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The figure stood at 64.8299 trillion won (US$54 billion) at the end of June 2019, but had risen 16.6% to 75.6256 trillion won (US$63 billion) a year later. Outstanding loan debt has now reached 91.7892 trillion won as of the end of June 2021, a 21.3% year-on-year increase.

Outstanding loan debt among all age groups rose to around 1.678 quadrillion won (US$1.4 trillion) at the end of June 2020, and around 1.821 quadrillion won (US$1.5 trillion) at the end of June this year, representing 4.7% and 8.55% year-on-year increases, respectively.

It appears that debt is rising more quickly among young people than the general population. The proportion of total debt held by those in their 20s is also trending upward, increasing from 3.9% at the end of December 2018 to 5.0% at the end of June 2021. This age group also accounts for a growing proportion of all delinquent debtors. The figure rose from 10% at the end of June 2020 to 11.2% a year later.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]