What changed
Official monthly totals, newest first · Ministry of Planning and Budget (기획예산처), Republic of Korea · published once a month, about six weeks after each month-endSouth Korea government debt
Ministry of Planning and Budget (기획예산처), Republic of Korea · official as of Aug 31, 2026 · projected at the past 12 months' pace between monthly figuresSouth Korea central government debt
Ministry of Planning and Budget, Monthly Fiscal Trends (월간 재정동향), section 5 "국가채무(중앙정부)", KRW trillion · official, Aug 31, 2026 · fixedPer person
Statistics Korea (Ministry of Data and Statistics), 2025 Population and Housing Census (register-based), total population at 1 November 2025 (51.82 million, including foreign residents) · Nov 1, 2025History
Fixed official figures · Ministry of Planning and Budget (기획예산처), Republic of Korea · these do not tickDetails
Full official tablesSouth Korea central government debt: ₩1,372,100,000,000,000
Official, month-end Aug 31, 2026 · Ministry of Planning and Budget, Monthly Fiscal Trends (월간 재정동향), section 5 "국가채무(중앙정부)", KRW trillion (Monthly Fiscal Trends PDF, section 5 table 국가채무(중앙정부), column 중앙정부 채무)
| Part | Amount |
|---|---|
| Government bonds | |
| Treasury bonds (국고채권) | ₩1,263,500,000,000,000 |
| National housing bonds (국민주택채권) | ₩72,800,000,000,000 |
| Foreign exchange stabilisation bonds (외평채권) | ₩34,200,000,000,000 |
| Borrowings and obligations | |
| Borrowings (차입금) | ₩1,500,000,000,000 |
| Treasury obligations (국고채무부담행위) | ₩100,000,000,000 |
| Total | ₩1,372,100,000,000,000 |
Central government debt on a cash basis at face value: government bonds (Treasury bonds, housing bonds, foreign exchange stabilisation bonds), borrowings and Treasury obligations. Excludes local governments and public corporations.
By month (official)
| Month-end | Central government debt | Combined | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2026 | ₩1,372,100,000,000,000 | ₩1,372,100,000,000,000 | +₩17.90T |
| Jul 31, 2026 | ₩1,354,200,000,000,000 | ₩1,354,200,000,000,000 | +₩15.70T |
| Jun 30, 2026 | ₩1,338,500,000,000,000 | ₩1,338,500,000,000,000 | −₩6.70T |
| May 31, 2026 | ₩1,345,200,000,000,000 | ₩1,345,200,000,000,000 | +₩23.50T |
| Apr 30, 2026 | ₩1,321,700,000,000,000 | ₩1,321,700,000,000,000 | +₩18.20T |
| Mar 31, 2026 | ₩1,303,500,000,000,000 | ₩1,303,500,000,000,000 | −₩9.00T |
| Feb 28, 2026 | ₩1,312,500,000,000,000 | ₩1,312,500,000,000,000 | +₩26.50T |
| Jan 31, 2026 | ₩1,286,000,000,000,000 | ₩1,286,000,000,000,000 | +₩17.90T |
| Dec 31, 2025 | ₩1,268,100,000,000,000 | ₩1,268,100,000,000,000 | — |
How it works
Official monthly figures · projection labelled · sources linkedThe live number = latest official total + (the official change per second over the past 12 months × seconds since that total). South Korea publishes its debt once a month, not daily, so this is a projection between monthly figures, not an official figure.
projected = 1,372,100,000,000,000 + 4,954,362.6975 × (seconds since Aug 31, 2026 11:59:59 PM CT)
The rate is the official change from Dec 31, 2025 to Aug 31, 2026: ₩1,372,100,000,000,000 − ₩1,268,100,000,000,000 = ₩104,000,000,000,000 over 243 days = ₩4,954,362.70 per second. The Monthly Fiscal Trends table carries year-end rows and the current year's month-end rows only, so the trend is the official change from the closest earlier year-end or month-end in the table, and the page says which dates it compares. As the history builds, it moves to a twelve-month window. The actual path is lumpy (bonds are sold in batches and repaid on schedules), so the projection will drift; when new monthly figures come out, the clock re-bases to the new official figures.
How often it's published. Monthly. The Ministry publishes the Monthly Fiscal Trends about six weeks after the month ends. The September 2026 month-end figure is expected in the Ministry's Monthly Fiscal Trends about six weeks after the month ends; this page re-bases to it automatically on the next daily build after it appears.
Per person divides by Statistics Korea's estimate of 51,820,000 people on Nov 1, 2025. It is not projected forward, so the live per-person figure rises only with the debt.
Note. Why this table: it is the Ministry's own monthly statement, the one the national press quotes, and the fetcher checks that bonds, borrowings and Treasury obligations add up to the debt in every row it reads.
Note. Central versus national debt: the headline is central government debt. The Ministry's national debt (D1), which adds local governments, is larger and is published annually; the IMF's general government gross debt is wider again (it includes social security funds and non-financial public bodies). They are shown or described as different measures, not mixed.
Note. Currency: Korean won. The World Debt Clock converts it to US dollars at the ECB's daily reference rate for KRW.
Note. Language: the report is published in Korean; the page translates its labels and keeps the Korean terms next to them.
Note. Figures from source tables may not add exactly because of rounding in the source.
Sources: Ministry of Planning and Budget, Monthly Fiscal Trends (월간 재정동향), section 5 "국가채무(중앙정부)", KRW trillion · Statistics Korea (Ministry of Data and Statistics), 2025 Population and Housing Census (register-based), total population at 1 November 2025 (51.82 million, including foreign residents) · Ministry of Planning and Budget, Monthly Fiscal Trends · Bank of Korea, Economic Statistics System (ECOS) · e-Country Indicators (e-나라지표), national debt
Page built Oct 30, 2026 5:02 PM CT from the official figures above.