This photo shows the exterior of the Financial Supervisory Protection building in Seoul, Jan. 16, 2020. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

Loans extended by insurance companies in Korea fell in the fourth quarter of 2024 from a year earlier amid high interest rates and tightened lending rules, data showed Sunday.

Insurers' outstanding loans reached 269.6 trillion won ($183 billion) as of the end of December, down 3.6 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

The reading, however, marks a 2.7 trillion-won gain from three months earlier.

The on-year decrease was attributed to a decline in loans extended to businesses.

Household lending stood at 135.7 trillion won as of end-December, up 0.7 trillion won from a year before, while corporate lending shrank by 4.3 trillion won to 133.8 trillion won over the cited period.

The loan delinquency rate, which measures the proportion of loan principal or interest unpaid for at least a month, stood at 0.61 percent at end-December, up from 0.42 percent a year earlier, according to the financial watchdog.

The rate of insurers' nonperforming loans came to 0.64 percent, down from 0.74 percent a year earlier, the data showed. (Yonhap)