Household loans set for 2nd straight month of decline: data

▲ This photo shows a citizen handling banking business at a loan counter in central Seoul on Jan. 12, 2026. (Yonhap)

household loans-data

Household loans set for 2nd straight month of decline: data

SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- Household loans extended by South Korean banks have fallen so far in January, possibly heading for a second straight month of decline for the first time in nearly two years, amid higher interest rates and tightened lending regulations, data showed Sunday.

Banks' outstanding household loans stood at 766.8 trillion won (US$530 billion) as of Thursday, down 864.8 billion won from the end of December, according to the data from local financial institutions.

The decline comes after household loans fell 456.3 billion won from a month earlier in December, marking the first on-month decline in 11 months. Should the downturn trend continue through this week, it would mark the first two consecutive months of decline since April 2023.

So far this month, home-backed loans fell 1.2 trillion won from end-December. A decline for the entire month, if realized, would mark the first on-month drop since March 2024.

Credit loans, on the other hand, have gained 347.2 billion won so far this month, possibly marking a turnaround from a 596.1 billion won drop in December.

Industry officials said parts of the unsecured, credit loans may have been used for investment in the local stock market, which posted the best performance among major stock markets last year.

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