Household debt in South Korea has hit another all-time high.
 
The Bank of Korea said Thursday that the nation’s household debt climbed 38-point-two trillion won to one-point-29 quadrillion won in the third quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter. The figure is the highest to be recorded since related statistics began to be gathered in the fourth quarter of 2002.
 
Of the total, net household debt, which excludes credit card spending, reached nearly one-point-23 quadrillion won, up more than 36 trillion won from the second quarter.
 
Among all loans provided to households by non-banking financial institutions, home mortgages jumped three-point-seven trillion to 110-point-eight trillion won in the fourth quarter while. Other types of loans climbed by a record seven-and-a-half trillion won to 167 trillion won.

Lee Sang-yong, the head of financial statistics at the central bank, said analysis showed people who had difficulty getting loans from banks due to tightened regulations flocked toward non-banking financial firms.