Insurance company loan balance exceeds 269 trillion won at the end of last year... Delinquency rate of household loans on the rise (Korea)

In South Korea, the overall loan balance of insurance companies had expanded at the end of last year, and the delinquency rate of loans to households also showed an upward trend.
On the 30th, the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea announced the "Current status of insurance company loans as of the end of December 2024."
According to the report, insurance companies' outstanding loan receivables stood at 269.6 trillion won (US$274.81 billion), up 2.7 trillion won (US$275.2 billion) from the end of the previous quarter.
Breaking it down, loans to households were 135.7 trillion won (US$138.3 billion), up 1.3 trillion won (US$132.5 billion) from the previous quarter. Loans to businesses were also up 1.3 trillion won (US$132.5 billion).
The total amount of loans to households was 133.8 trillion won (US$137.2 billion), an increase of 1.4 trillion won (US$137.2 billion). The breakdown of loans to households is as follows: insurance contract loans were 71.6 trillion won;
(approximately 7.3 trillion won), housing-secured loans were 51.9 trillion won (approximately 5.2 trillion won), and credit loans were 7.9 trillion won (approximately 7.0 trillion won).
While the overall delinquency rate was 0.61%, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous quarter, the delinquency rate for household loans increased 0.07 percentage point to 0.75%.
In particular, the delinquency rate for loans excluding home equity loans increased by 0.28 percentage points to 2.25%, while the delinquency rate for corporate loans fell by 0.04 percentage points to 0.55%.
The ratio of non-performing loans (fixed-rate or lower) was 0.64%, down 0.07 percentage points from the previous quarter. The ratio of non-performing loans to households was 0.54%, down 0.07 percentage points from the previous quarter.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) stated that the overall soundness of loans is at a good level, while the lending to households is at a low level.
"We will increase our loss-absorbing capacity by increasing loan loss reserves and encourage the early normalization of non-performing assets," it said.
" policy was outlined.