South Korea's household debt reached a fresh high in the fourth quarter of last year, but it grew at a slower pace from the three months earlier amid tightened lending rules, central bank data showed Tuesday.

Household credit came to 1,862.1 trillion won ($1.56 trillion) as of end-December, up 1 percent, or 19.1 trillion won, from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The gain slowed from a 1.9 percent on-quarter increase in the third quarter.

Household credit refers to credit purchases and loans for households extended by financial institutions.

The slower on-quarter growth came as financial authorities tightened rules on lending as part of efforts to keep a lid on rising household debt, which is frequently cited as a major drag on the country's economic growth.

Household lending extended by banks and other financial institutions came to 1,755.8 trillion won in the fourth quarter, up 0.8 percent, or 13.4 trillion won, from three months earlier.

The growth was also smaller than an increase of 34.7 trillion won reported in the third quarter, according to the data.

Mortgage loans climbed 13.4 trillion won on-quarter to 982.4 trillion won in the third quarter.

Credit purchases surged 5.7 trillion won to stand at 106.3 trillion won as of end-December, the data showed. (Yonhap)