The average amount of interest households in South Korea have to pay each month is increasing at a much faster rate compared to the rise in their monthly income.

According to data from Statistics Korea on Sunday, household income rose three-point-six percent during the fourth quarter last year compared to a year earlier.

The amount of interest households paid from October to December of last year jumped 24-point-one percent from the previous year, nearly seven-fold compared to their income growth.

The latest trend is an outcome of rapidly-expanding household credit, which jumped five-point-eight percent last year, combined with the rising interest rate reaching a three-year-high of three-point-62 percent in the fourth quarter.

The statistical agency said the particularly high rise in interest was most apparent for households in the low-income bracket whose members are under the age of 30 and working in the service industry.