More Young People Groan Under Multiple Debt

Three out of 10 Koreans who have borrowed money from more than three lenders and are therefore more likely to default when interest rates rise are under 30. 

According to the Bank of Korea on Sunday, 31.1 percent of 4.47 million Koreans who owed money to three or more financial institutions were less than 30 in the third quarter last year. 

Based on third-quarter statistics, the number of multiple debtors under 30 fell from 1.33 million in 2018 to 1.26 million in 2020, but rose again in the pandemic to 1.39 million last year. 

Altogether they owed W155.1 trillion or W112 million per person, up 8.3 percent from two years earlier (US$1=W1,302). 

Across all age groups, the number of multiple debtors continued to increase from 4.17 million in the third quarter of 2018 to 4.47 million in the same quarter of last year, but their total borrowings fell from W600.2 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2021 to W589.7 trillion in the third quarter of last year.