Rising interest rates drove the average debt service ratio(DSR) of household loan borrowers past 40 percent for the first time in four years.

According to the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Thursday, the average DSR stood at 40-point-six percent as of the fourth quarter last year to exceed 40 percent for the first time since the October-to-December period in 2018.

The DSR is the ratio of income to principal and interest of a loan holder.

The average DSR among those who took out a fresh loan in the fourth quarter, meanwhile, stood at 17-point-three percent, down from the 23-point-eight percent posted two years earlier leading up to the government's tightening of related regulations.

A majority of existing loan holders saw their DSR rise from 33-point-eight to 38-point-four percent on average during the same period due to rising interest rates.

According to Bank of International Settlements(BIS) standards, South Korea's DSR stood at 13-point-seven percent as of the third quarter last year, the second-highest among major economies after Australia's 14-point-nine percent.