Record High National Income, All-Time High in Personal Rehabilitation Filings

Over 110,000 Personal Rehabilitation Filings by August,
Up 12% from Last Year

While the Bank of Korea has forecast that Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is likely to exceed $40,000 in 2026, the number of personal rehabilitation filings is on track to reach an all-time high. The strong performance of export companies, including those in the semiconductor industry, has raised the national income average, but the benefits have not spread evenly, resulting in contrasting trends.

According to the Monthly Court Statistics, there were 110,683 personal rehabilitation filings received from January to August 2026, which represents a 12.2% increase compared to 98,641 filings in the same period of 2025. At this rate, the total is expected to surpass the record 149,147 cases in 2025. Analysts note that this is because delinquencies on self-employed loans provided during the COVID-19 period continue to persist, and household interest burdens have also grown.

According to data released by the government in August 2026, nearly 358.7 trillion won in loans for individual businesses were issued by banks and policy financial institutions between 2020 and 2023. Of this amount, 154.7 trillion won remains outstanding.

Additionally, the Bank of Korea’s Financial Stability Report released in September 2026 showed that the proportion of self-employed individuals who were delinquent in one quarter and remained delinquent the following quarter rose from 78.4% at the end of 2025 to 80.9% in the second quarter of 2026. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics' Household Survey, the average monthly interest expense per household in the second quarter of 2026 was 143,000 won, up 12.1% from the same period in 2025.

Although not at record levels, personal bankruptcy filings are also increasing. From January to August 2026, 29,341 personal bankruptcy petitions were filed, an 8.4% increase from 27,060 cases during the same period in 2025.

Lee Sangwoo, Legal Times Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.