Debt held by South Korean salaried workers in their 20s jumped 15 percent on-year in 2021, much higher than the 7 percent growth on average for all salaried workers, data showed.

Bank and nonbank loans extended to salaried workers in the country averaged 52.02 million won ($40,107) per person as of the end of 2021, up by 3.4 million won from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It is the first time that salaried workers’ per capita debt surpassed 50 million won since 2017, when the agency began compiling the data.

But the growth rate slowed down in 2021 from the previous year’s 10.3 percent, as the government tightened lending regulations in the wake of mounting debt amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the real estate market boom. (Yonhap)