---
ticker: "KRHHLOAN"
title: "South Korea Household Lending Rate (Balance)"
unit: "%"
frequency: "Monthly"
source: "Fisher (1930)"
release: "Updated Monthly"
category: "Credit & Financial Cycle"
country: "KR"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://kred.dev/en/series/KRHHLOAN"
license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"
latest_value: 4.52
latest_date: "2026-08-01"
first_date: "2001-09-01"
observations_total: 300
observations_shown: 120
---

# South Korea Household Lending Rate (Balance)

## Overview

The average rate on outstanding household loans, showing the debt-servicing burden borne by households.

## Key Figures

|  | Value | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 4.52 | 2026-08-01 |
| Change from previous | +0.04 | 2026-07-01 |
| Change over one year | +0.16 | 2025-08-01 |
| Highest on record | 9.08 | 2001-09-01 |
| Lowest on record | 2.74 | 2021-05-01 |
| Period covered | 2001-09-01 – 2026-08-01 |  |
| Observations | 300 |  |

## Recent observations

| Date | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2016-09-01 | 3.18 | -0.03 |
| 2016-10-01 | 3.17 | -0.01 |
| 2016-11-01 | 3.17 | 0.00 |
| 2016-12-01 | 3.18 | +0.01 |
| 2017-01-01 | 3.19 | +0.01 |
| 2017-02-01 | 3.21 | +0.02 |
| 2017-03-01 | 3.22 | +0.01 |
| 2017-04-01 | 3.23 | +0.01 |
| 2017-05-01 | 3.24 | +0.01 |
| 2017-06-01 | 3.24 | 0.00 |
| 2017-07-01 | 3.25 | +0.01 |
| 2017-08-01 | 3.26 | +0.01 |
| 2017-09-01 | 3.27 | +0.01 |
| 2017-10-01 | 3.28 | +0.01 |
| 2017-11-01 | 3.32 | +0.04 |
| 2017-12-01 | 3.35 | +0.03 |
| 2018-01-01 | 3.39 | +0.04 |
| 2018-02-01 | 3.43 | +0.04 |
| 2018-03-01 | 3.46 | +0.03 |
| 2018-04-01 | 3.49 | +0.03 |
| 2018-05-01 | 3.52 | +0.03 |
| 2018-06-01 | 3.54 | +0.02 |
| 2018-07-01 | 3.55 | +0.01 |
| 2018-08-01 | 3.57 | +0.02 |
| 2018-09-01 | 3.57 | 0.00 |
| 2018-10-01 | 3.59 | +0.02 |
| 2018-11-01 | 3.60 | +0.01 |
| 2018-12-01 | 3.62 | +0.02 |
| 2019-01-01 | 3.63 | +0.01 |
| 2019-02-01 | 3.65 | +0.02 |
| 2019-03-01 | 3.65 | 0.00 |
| 2019-04-01 | 3.64 | -0.01 |
| 2019-05-01 | 3.63 | -0.01 |
| 2019-06-01 | 3.60 | -0.03 |
| 2019-07-01 | 3.56 | -0.04 |
| 2019-08-01 | 3.50 | -0.06 |
| 2019-09-01 | 3.45 | -0.05 |
| 2019-10-01 | 3.40 | -0.05 |
| 2019-11-01 | 3.37 | -0.03 |
| 2019-12-01 | 3.34 | -0.03 |
| 2020-01-01 | 3.31 | -0.03 |
| 2020-02-01 | 3.28 | -0.03 |
| 2020-03-01 | 3.24 | -0.04 |
| 2020-04-01 | 3.19 | -0.05 |
| 2020-05-01 | 3.13 | -0.06 |
| 2020-06-01 | 3.06 | -0.07 |
| 2020-07-01 | 2.99 | -0.07 |
| 2020-08-01 | 2.92 | -0.07 |
| 2020-09-01 | 2.87 | -0.05 |
| 2020-10-01 | 2.82 | -0.05 |
| 2020-11-01 | 2.79 | -0.03 |
| 2020-12-01 | 2.77 | -0.02 |
| 2021-01-01 | 2.76 | -0.01 |
| 2021-02-01 | 2.76 | 0.00 |
| 2021-03-01 | 2.76 | 0.00 |
| 2021-04-01 | 2.75 | -0.01 |
| 2021-05-01 | 2.74 | -0.01 |
| 2021-06-01 | 2.74 | 0.00 |
| 2021-07-01 | 2.75 | +0.01 |
| 2021-08-01 | 2.78 | +0.03 |
| 2021-09-01 | 2.81 | +0.03 |
| 2021-10-01 | 2.86 | +0.05 |
| 2021-11-01 | 2.93 | +0.07 |
| 2021-12-01 | 3.01 | +0.08 |
| 2022-01-01 | 3.09 | +0.08 |
| 2022-02-01 | 3.18 | +0.09 |
| 2022-03-01 | 3.25 | +0.07 |
| 2022-04-01 | 3.33 | +0.08 |
| 2022-05-01 | 3.42 | +0.09 |
| 2022-06-01 | 3.52 | +0.10 |
| 2022-07-01 | 3.64 | +0.12 |
| 2022-08-01 | 3.80 | +0.16 |
| 2022-09-01 | 3.98 | +0.18 |
| 2022-10-01 | 4.18 | +0.20 |
| 2022-11-01 | 4.43 | +0.25 |
| 2022-12-01 | 4.66 | +0.23 |
| 2023-01-01 | 4.84 | +0.18 |
| 2023-02-01 | 4.95 | +0.11 |
| 2023-03-01 | 5.01 | +0.06 |
| 2023-04-01 | 5.04 | +0.03 |
| 2023-05-01 | 5.06 | +0.02 |
| 2023-06-01 | 5.05 | -0.01 |
| 2023-07-01 | 5.03 | -0.02 |
| 2023-08-01 | 5.03 | 0.00 |
| 2023-09-01 | 5.04 | +0.01 |
| 2023-10-01 | 5.06 | +0.02 |
| 2023-11-01 | 5.08 | +0.02 |
| 2023-12-01 | 5.08 | 0.00 |
| 2024-01-01 | 5.07 | -0.01 |
| 2024-02-01 | 5.03 | -0.04 |
| 2024-03-01 | 5.00 | -0.03 |
| 2024-04-01 | 4.96 | -0.04 |
| 2024-05-01 | 4.92 | -0.04 |
| 2024-06-01 | 4.87 | -0.05 |
| 2024-07-01 | 4.82 | -0.05 |
| 2024-08-01 | 4.78 | -0.04 |
| 2024-09-01 | 4.74 | -0.04 |
| 2024-10-01 | 4.71 | -0.03 |
| 2024-11-01 | 4.70 | -0.01 |
| 2024-12-01 | 4.67 | -0.03 |
| 2025-01-01 | 4.64 | -0.03 |
| 2025-02-01 | 4.61 | -0.03 |
| 2025-03-01 | 4.57 | -0.04 |
| 2025-04-01 | 4.53 | -0.04 |
| 2025-05-01 | 4.48 | -0.05 |
| 2025-06-01 | 4.43 | -0.05 |
| 2025-07-01 | 4.39 | -0.04 |
| 2025-08-01 | 4.36 | -0.03 |
| 2025-09-01 | 4.33 | -0.03 |
| 2025-10-01 | 4.31 | -0.02 |
| 2025-11-01 | 4.31 | 0.00 |
| 2025-12-01 | 4.31 | 0.00 |
| 2026-01-01 | 4.33 | +0.02 |
| 2026-02-01 | 4.35 | +0.02 |
| 2026-03-01 | 4.37 | +0.02 |
| 2026-04-01 | 4.39 | +0.02 |
| 2026-05-01 | 4.42 | +0.03 |
| 2026-06-01 | 4.44 | +0.02 |
| 2026-07-01 | 4.48 | +0.04 |
| 2026-08-01 | 4.52 | +0.04 |

## Definition

KRHHLOAN is the raw monthly series recorded without transformation, the average interest rate carried on the outstanding stock of household loans, expressed in percent per annum on a balance basis. The quantity is an interest rate, namely the price that equates present income surrendered to future income received, measured as the effective rate actually accruing on loan principal rather than the rate on newly originated credit (Fisher 1930).

The balance-basis construction averages the rates on every loan still on the books in proportion to each loan's share of the outstanding amount, so the figure is a balance-weighted mean over interest-bearing claims (Barnett 1980; Diewert 1976).

The loan stock being priced is the household sector's liability position in the financial accounts. This position is defined within the moneyflows framework and the sectoral payments-and-balances scheme (Copeland 1949; Copeland 1952). It is realized in social accounts integrated with income and capital accounts and in sectoral balance sheets (Stone 1966; Goldsmith, Lipsey, and Mendelson 1963), and codified as a practitioner compilation (Dawson 1996).

The household loan aggregate it weights is the bank-credit-to-households concept, compiled over long horizons and harmonized in a macrofinancial database (Schularick and Taylor 2012; Jordà, Schularick, and Taylor 2017). KRED stores the number exactly as recorded.

## Methodology

KRED transforms KRHHLOAN by none of rescaling, deflation, seasonal adjustment, or smoothing, does not re-annualize a rate already stated in per-annum terms, and describes only the measurement basis by which such a figure comes to exist.

The underlying datum is an effective interest rate that discounts a loan's remaining cash flows to its book value, computed contract by contract and then aggregated (Fisher 1930). Aggregation across the loan book is a weighted average in which each contract's rate is weighted by its outstanding balance, resting on the user-cost and index-number logic that combines interest-bearing financial quantities and on the exact and superlative index theory (Barnett 1980; Diewert 1976).

The balances that supply the weights are the household sector's loan liabilities delineated in flow-of-funds accounting and a full sectoral construction (Copeland 1949; Copeland 1952). Because these balances are reconciled through the integrated social accounts, the national balance sheets, and compilation conventions, what is averaged is a well-defined sectoral debt stock rather than an arbitrary collection of contracts (Stone 1966; Goldsmith, Lipsey, and Mendelson 1963; Dawson 1996).

The household-credit perimeter itself follows the bank-loan aggregate measured over long horizons and assembled in a macrofinancial history (Schularick and Taylor 2012; Jordà, Schularick, and Taylor 2017). No filtering is performed, so the recorded month-end figure is the balance-weighted rate itself.

## Applications in Economics

The household lending rate on outstanding balances measures the cost actually being serviced on the household sector's debt, so it is the price at which intertemporal consumption is being shifted (Fisher 1930; Obstfeld and Rogoff 1995).

Because it prices the existing stock rather than new flows, it captures the slow pass-through of policy and market rates into the debt-service burden that households carry. This pass-through is the leverage-cycle mechanism through which credit growth shapes the macroeconomy (Schularick and Taylor 2012) and a business-cycle regularity (Jordà, Schularick, and Taylor 2017).

Interpreting it requires the sectoral accounting that defines the household debt position. The moneyflows scheme, the sector statements, the integrated accounts, the national balance sheets, and the compilation practice make up that accounting (Copeland 1949; Copeland 1952; Stone 1966; Goldsmith, Lipsey, and Mendelson 1963; Dawson 1996), and the rate is meaningful only relative to the balance it is charged on.

Gross debt carries information distinct from net positions (Obstfeld 2012). As a balance-weighted average it inherits the user-cost weighting and the index theory, so its movements reflect both repricing and shifts in the composition of the loan book (Barnett 1980; Diewert 1976).

## Applications in Financial Markets

For valuation, the balance-basis household lending rate is the yield actually earned on the outstanding household loan book, so it sets the carry and the repricing gap on that asset and feeds directly into net-interest-margin and duration analysis (Fisher 1930). Because the figure is a balance-weighted average, marking it against new-origination rates reveals the embedded gain or loss in the book through the user-cost weighting and the index-number aggregation (Barnett 1980; Diewert 1976).

The level and its movement proxy household credit risk and the leverage build-up that precedes financial distress. This is the credit-boom signal (Schularick and Taylor 2012) and the macrofinancial cycle (Jordà, Schularick, and Taylor 2017).

Mapping the rate onto the underlying exposure depends on the sectoral debt measurement, the integrated accounting, the national balance sheets, and the practitioner compilation (Copeland 1949; Copeland 1952; Stone 1966; Goldsmith, Lipsey, and Mendelson 1963; Dawson 1996), which together fix the size and composition of the book the rate is earned on.

Tracking the spread of this rate over secured and policy benchmarks gives a real-time read on household funding cost and on the transmission of monetary conditions into the household balance sheet.

## Statistical Tests

On the 296 monthly observations spanning 2001-09-01 to 2026-04-01, fit with a constant and trend, the unit-root battery agrees that the household lending rate is integrated of order one. The augmented Dickey-Fuller test of Dickey and Fuller (1979), in the ARMA-consistent lag-augmented form of Said and Dickey (1984) and with lag length set as in Ng and Perron (2001), does not reject a unit root with p = 0.7716, the nonparametric Phillips and Perron (1988) test concurs with p = 0.5876, and the Kwiatkowski et al. (1992) stationarity test rejects its trend-stationary null at p < 0.01, so the verdict is an unambiguous I(1). The GLS-detrended power escalation of Elliott, Rothenberg, and Stock (1996) is reserved for ambiguous outcomes under the house protocol and is not required on this clean reading.

Because the level is integrated, the mean-shift and serial-correlation diagnostics are run on the first difference, the stationary object those procedures require, since a break search or a portmanteau on an integrated level would spuriously segment and read near-unit autocorrelations (Bai and Perron 1998; Perron 1989). The multiple-break procedure of Bai and Perron (1998), computed by the dynamic-programming algorithm of Bai and Perron (2003), finds a single break in the mean of the differenced series, at 2021-07-01, read as parameter instability in the sense of Andrews (1993). The Ljung and Box (1978) portmanteau statistic, refining the original Box and Pierce (1970) form, is computed on the first difference and rejects the white-noise null at lags 12 and 24, with Q = 355.38 and Q = 377.08 and p = 0.000 and p = 0.000.

The household lending rate is a monthly interest-rate level with no posited low-integer seasonal component, so the seasonal-unit-root machinery of Hylleberg et al. (1990) and the Canova and Hansen (1995) seasonal-stationarity test carry no meaningful object and are deliberately not run (Beaulieu and Miron 1992; Ghysels and Osborn 2001).

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What do the household credit and lending rate series carry?

Household credit outstanding, household and corporate lending rates, and the deposit rate, all carried as published without transformation.

### Why does household credit centre on the outstanding stock?

It is the stock that must be serviced and refinanced, so it also determines sensitivity to a rate change. New lending can slow while the stock remains near a historical peak.

### Is household credit outstanding adjusted for prices or income?

No. They are published nominal levels, so any long-span comparison needs the reader to allow for growth in nominal income separately.