The loan balance for self-employed individuals at savings banks has halved in about four years, while the delinquency rate has surged 3.6-fold, data showed.

According to the "Status of Savings Bank Loans to Sole Proprietors" analyzed and released today (September 26) by Representative Park Sung-hoon of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee, the loan balance fell from 24.2258 trillion won at the end of 2022 to 19.7751 trillion won in 2023, 15.6398 trillion won in 2024, and 12.8826 trillion won in 2025, before dropping further to 12.0649 trillion won as of June this year.

This marks a 48% decline (11.6209 trillion won) in just three and a half years.

While the overall loan volume has shrunk, credit quality has deteriorated significantly.

The delinquency rate climbed from 3.31% in 2022 to 7.63% in 2023 and 11.70% in 2024, before reaching 11.94% as of June this year, surging roughly 3.6-fold compared to 2022.

The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio also rose approximately 3.25-fold during the same period from 4.83% to 15.69%, meaning roughly 160,000 won out of every 1 million won in loans was classified as bad debt.

Rep. Park pointed out, "Rather than merely filling gaps with policy funds, genuinely supporting people's livelihoods through finance means proactively managing self-employed borrowers before they fall into insolvency."

(Photo: Yonhap News)