Economic Downturn Pushes Overdue Credit Card Debt to Record High of 1.5 Trillion Won [2025 National Audit]

Overdue Credit Card Loans Double in Four Years

As the economy worsens, the amount of overdue credit card loans that citizens have failed to repay for more than a month has reached an all-time high.

According to data submitted by Assemblyman Kang Min-guk's office from the Financial Supervisory Service on October 20, as of the end of August, the amount of credit card loans (including cash advances and card loans) overdue for more than one month stood at 1.483 trillion won.

The overdue amount for credit card loans increased from 718 billion won at the end of 2021 to 860 billion won at the end of 2022, and to 983 billion won at the end of 2023. By the end of last year, it had risen to 1.094 trillion won. As of the end of August this year, this amount reached 1.483 trillion won, doubling in size over approximately four years.

The scale of overdue credit card loans also increased by 8% in just one year, from 1.372 trillion won at the end of August last year to 1.483 trillion won at the end of August this year. In comparison, the total amount of credit card loans increased only slightly by 0.3%, from 44.665 trillion won to 44.785 trillion won during the same period.

The delinquency rate is also rising. The credit card loan delinquency rate, which was 1.9% at the end of 2021, rose to 2.2% at the end of 2022, 2.4% at the end of 2023 and 2024, and surged to 3.3% as of the end of August this year.

Assemblyman Kang stated, "As bank loans become harder to obtain, vulnerable borrowers are turning to card loans to secure funds. This could pose a risk to the soundness of card companies, so financial authorities need to provide proper guidance to card companies on managing and selling off non-performing loans."

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