South Korean households and businesses' debt ratios against gross domestic product (GDP) were much higher than the tipping point.

According to the Hyundai Research Institute on Sunday, the country's corporate debt to GDP ratio came to 99-point-four percent in the third quarter of last year.

The figure is about 20 percentage points higher than the 80 percent seen as the tipping point by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The country's household debt ratio against GDP reached 94-point-four percent in the third quarter of last year, also higher than the forum's comparable tipping point figure of 75 percent.

The WEF views that if the ratios exceed the tipping points for an extended period of time, they are a sign of slowed economic growth.