Korea’s total debt tops 6,500 trillion won

Mar 24, 2026, 08:31 am

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Data from the Bank for International Settlements shows South Korea’s total national debt surpassing 6,500 trillion won. / Graphic by Park Jong-gyu

South Korea’s total national debt—combining government, household, and corporate liabilities—surpassed 6,500 trillion won for the first time on record, with government debt showing the fastest growth.

According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on March 23, the country’s non-financial sector credit reached 6,500.58 trillion won as of the third quarter of last year. This marked a 4.5% increase compared to the same period a year earlier and the first time the total exceeded the 6,500 trillion won threshold.

Breaking down the figures, government debt stood at 1,250.77 trillion won, while household debt reached 2,342.67 trillion won and corporate debt totaled 2,907.13 trillion won. Government debt rose by 9.8% year-on-year, significantly outpacing the growth of household debt (3.0%) and corporate debt (3.6%).

Non-financial sector credit, often referred to as total national debt, aggregates liabilities across key economic sectors—including the government, households, and businesses—based on flow-of-funds statistics. It is widely used as an indicator of how heavily an economy relies on debt.

Amid continued sluggish economic growth, the debt ratio has also remained elevated. As of the end of the third quarter, the ratio of total debt to gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 248.0%, meaning the country’s debt is approximately 2.5 times its economic output. Although the ratio declined slightly by 0.3 percentage points from the previous quarter, it rose by 1.5 percentage points compared to a year earlier.

Government debt growth was particularly notable in this regard. According to data from the Institute of International Finance (IIF), which releases statistics earlier than the BIS, South Korea’s government debt-to-GDP ratio reached 48.6% at the end of the fourth quarter last year—an increase of 5.0 percentage points from a year earlier and the highest level on record.

This marked the first time the government debt ratio approached 50% of GDP under IIF standards, highlighting the rapid expansion of public sector liabilities.

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