Amid continued rate hikes, an average mortgage borrower in the nation spends about 60 percent of their income paying off the principal and interest, new data shows. 
 
According to the Bank of Korea’s(BOK) household debt database on Monday, the average debt service ratio(DSR) for mortgage borrowers stood at 60-point-six percent in the third quarter, topping 60 percent for the first time in three and a half years. DSR measures how much a borrower has to pay in principle and interest payments in proportion to their yearly income.
 
The figure hovered around 55 percent since the first quarter 2020, but began to rise and surpassed 57 percent in the third quarter of last year during the early phase of the central bank’s continuous moves to raise the benchmark rate to tame growing inflation. 
 
It further rose to 57-point-eight percent in the fourth quarter of last year, 58-point-seven percent in the first quarter of this year, and 59-point-four percent in the second quarter. 
 
The average DSR figure for those taking out both mortgage and credit loans exceeded 70 percent as of late October, the BOK data showed, indicating mounting financial pressure on many households due to growing borrowing costs.