More one-thousand won bills are in circulation in South Korea than ten-thousand won notes for the first time since 1986.

According to Bank of Korea on Saturday, ten-thousand won bills accounted for 28-point-seven percent of over five-point-28 billion paper money bills in circulation as of late last year. This is down by about four and a half percentage points from the previous year.

The number of one-thousand won bills edged up by about one percentage point to account for a little over 30 percent of the total.

It's the first time since 1986 the two banknotes are reversed in their percentage.

Ten-thousand won bills have been steadily increasing amid the expanding economy and inflation, peaking at two-point-67 billion bills in 2008. But since the new 50-thousand won denomination was introduced in June 2009, the ten-thousand won note has been losing ground.

As of late December, 50-thousand won bills were the most circulated, at nearly 36 percent of the total. Five-thousand won bills took five-point-three percent.