South Korea's tax revenue grew 6.8 trillion won ($6.3 billion) in October due largely to a rise in income tax revenue, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

The country collected 39.1 trillion won in taxes in October, compared with 32.3 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The rise in tax revenue mainly came as income tax revenue rose 4.1 trillion won on-year to 10.5 trillion won.

In October, the government's total revenue, including tax income, amounted to 55.2 trillion won, up 8.5 trillion won from a year ago. In the first 10 months, the total revenue rose 3.3 trillion won on-year to 409.5 trillion won.

The country's total expenditures grew 2.1 trillion won on-year to 33.7 trillion won in October due largely to emergency handouts designed to fight the new coronavirus outbreak.

In the January-October period, the total expenditures came to 468.5 trillion won, up 50.9 trillion won from a year earlier.

Accordingly, the country's fiscal soundness improved in October from a year earlier, but the fiscal balance remained in the red in the first 10 months.

The consolidated fiscal balance, the gap between total revenue and expenditures, posted a deficit of 59 trillion won in the first 10 months of the year, compared with a 47.6 trillion won shortfall a year earlier.

The management fiscal balance, another key gauge of fiscal soundness calculated on a stricter term, logged a shortfall of 90.6 trillion won in the January-October period, larger than a 45.1 trillion won deficit the previous year.

As of end-October, the country's government debt rose to a record 812.9 trillion won, up from 699 trillion won at the end of last year.

South Korea has implemented four extra budgets worth 66 trillion won this year to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic and prop up the economy.

Earlier this month, the National Assembly passed a record 558 trillion-won national budget for next year.

The finance ministry said the country's debt is expected to reach 956 trillion won next year, up 150.8 trillion won from this year. The country's debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, a gauge of a nation's financial health, will reach 47.3 percent in 2021, sharper than just below 40 percent before the pandemic. (Yonhap)