South Korea Financial Supervisory Service reports domestic banks’ won loan delinquency rate rises to 0.61% in April 2026

The South Korea Financial Supervisory Service published April 2026 data showing that the delinquency rate on domestic banks’ won-denominated loans rose to 0.61% at end-April. That was up 0.05 percentage point from 0.56% a month earlier and 0.04 percentage point from 0.57% a year earlier. The increase reflected both a KRW0.2 trillion rise in newly delinquent loans and a KRW2.7 trillion decline in resolved loans. The deterioration was more pronounced in business lending. The delinquency rate on business loans increased to 0.74% from 0.68% in March, with large-company loans unchanged at 0.22% but small and medium-sized enterprise loans rising to 0.90% from 0.81%. Within that, SME corporate loans increased to 0.98% from 0.88% and individual business loans to 0.78% from 0.71%. Household loan delinquency also edged higher, to 0.42% from 0.40%, as mortgage loan delinquency rose to 0.30% from 0.29% and unsecured loan delinquency climbed to 0.83% from 0.76%. The Financial Supervisory Service noted that banks tend to manage delinquent loans more closely at quarter-end, so delinquency rates often rise during a quarter and fall toward quarter-end.