Heavy 2200 Trillion National Debt... 18.69 Million Won Debt Per Citizen

Last Year, Surpassed 2,000 Trillion for the First Time Ever... Due to Sharp Increase in Spending for COVID-19 Damage and Others

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Last year, the national debt approached 2,200 trillion won, surpassing 2,000 trillion won for the first time in history. The debt per capita increased by 23.4 million won to 18.69 million won over the course of one year. This sharp rise in government spending is attributed to the expansion of welfare and support for COVID-19 damages, raising concerns that the rapid increase in national debt necessitates urgent strengthening of fiscal soundness.

On the 5th, the government reviewed and approved the '2021 Fiscal Year National Settlement' containing these details at the Cabinet meeting. ▶Related article on page 4

Last year, the national debt stood at 2,196.4 trillion won, a sharp increase of 21.47 trillion won (10.8%) compared to the end of the previous year (1,981.7 trillion won). This is the first time since the preparation of the national settlement report began in the 2011 fiscal year that the national debt exceeded 2,000 trillion won, and for the second consecutive year, it surpassed the size of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, 2,057 trillion won in 2021).

The national debt is the sum of confirmed debt, which is debt the government must repay by a set date, and unconfirmed debt, which includes amounts such as pensions payable to public officials and military personnel. Last year, confirmed debt increased by 100.6 trillion won (14.0%) due to increased government bond issuance following two supplementary budgets for overcoming COVID-19, and unconfirmed debt rose by 114.1 trillion won (9.0%) due to a 93.5 trillion won increase in pension liabilities for public officials and military personnel, resulting in an overall increase in national debt.

Among these, the actual national debt (D1) that the government must repay increased by 120.6 trillion won from the previous year to 967.2 trillion won. The ratio to GDP was 47.0%, marking the highest national debt level since statistics have been available starting in 1997.

Last year, the total national assets increased by 352.8 trillion won from the previous year to 2,839.9 trillion won. This was influenced by an increase of 186.2 trillion won in liquid and investment assets due to higher returns on National Pension Fund management, and a 92.2 trillion won increase in land value due to new land acquisitions and asset revaluation. Consequently, net assets, calculated by subtracting liabilities from assets, rose by 138.1 trillion won (23.7%) to 643.5 trillion won, recording the highest growth rate since the introduction of financial settlement in 2011.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.