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Cost of moneySouth Korea

Lending rate in South Korea

What do banks charge for credit there?

South Korea's lending rate is 4.19 % — #5 of 67 countries on the atlas (lower is better). Period 2025.

4.19%

Checked 23 Sept 2026Period 2025

Source: IMF International Financial Statistics

Lending rate in South Korea over time

15.28 %9.04 %2.80 %15.28 % · 19982.80 % · 20201996: 11.06 %1997: 11.88 %1998: 15.28 %1999: 9.40 %2000: 8.54 %2001: 7.71 %2002: 6.77 %2003: 6.24 %2004: 5.90 %2005: 5.59 %2006: 5.99 %2007: 6.55 %2008: 7.17 %2009: 5.65 %2010: 5.51 %2011: 5.76 %2012: 5.40 %2013: 4.64 %2014: 4.26 %2015: 3.53 %2016: 3.37 %2017: 3.48 %2018: 3.66 %2019: 3.45 %2020: 2.80 %2021: 2.88 %2022: 4.29 %2023: 5.19 %2024: 4.73 %2025: 4.19 %1996201020254.19 %
30 official observations, 1996 → 2025. Every point is a published value — never interpolated.
Rank
#5 of 67
lower is better
Ranked behind
93 %
62 of 67 countries
Latest move
▼ 0.54 pp
since 2024
Below its peak
11.09 pp
peak 15.28 % in 1998
Full series
▼ 6.87 pp
since 1996

In Asia: #2 of 17vs median 8.79 %: −4.60 pp (better)

Among 67 countries

10 of 67 countries between 2.96 % and 4.75 %9 of 67 countries between 4.75 % and 6.55 %9 of 67 countries between 6.55 % and 8.34 %10 of 67 countries between 8.34 % and 10.14 %4 of 67 countries between 10.14 % and 11.93 %3 of 67 countries between 11.93 % and 13.73 %5 of 67 countries between 13.73 % and 15.52 %5 of 67 countries between 15.52 % and 17.31 %3 of 67 countries between 17.31 % and 19.11 %3 of 67 countries between 19.11 % and 20.90 %1 of 67 countries between 22.70 % and 24.49 %1 of 67 countries between 37.05 % and 38.84 %4 of 67 countries between 44.23 % and 46.02 %median 8.79 %South Korea: ahead of 93 % of the 67 countries with a published lending rateSouth Korea 4.19 %2.96 %46.02 %
Half of all 67 countries sit between 5.88 % and 15.34 %. South Korea is ahead of 93 % of them. Axis trimmed to the 2nd–98th percentile; 3 values beyond it sit in the end bars.

The neighbourhood

#CountryLending ratevs South Korea
3 United States3.25 %−0.94 pp
4 Bosnia and Herzegovina4.10 %−0.09 pp
5 South Korea4.19 %—
6 Bulgaria4.24 %+0.05 pp
7 Bahamas4.25 %+0.06 pp

Bank lending rate, IMF-harmonised — the price of credit, ~150 economies.

How to read this figure

The IMF-harmonised bank lending rate — what banks charge their customers for credit, averaged nationally. Harmonisation is what makes ~150 economies comparable; the trade-off is that the underlying loan mix (business vs consumer, maturities) differs by country, so treat close values as similar, not identical.

Next, about South Korea

Deposit rateInflation rate
Lending rate, all countries ranked →Compare South Korea with another country →Everything about South Korea →
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