South Korean households saw their insurance and pension assets reach a new high in 2015, data showed Wednesday, as they increased such assets to better prepare for old age amid low interest rates.

According to the data by the Bank of Korea and the Hana Institute of Finance, local households' insurance and pension assets came to 989 trillion won ($857 billion) as of the end of last year, accounting for 31.1 percent of their total financial assets.


The percentage was a fresh all-time high. The ratio, which exceeded the 30 percent mark for the first time in 2013, stood at 30.9 percent in 2014.

The financial assets of households and nonprofit organizations totaled 3,176 trillion won as of the end of last year, up 9.6 percent from a year.

Experts attributed the uptrend to growing household demand for insurance and pensions, which in turn stems from the rapid aging of the country's population.

Last year, slightly over 13 percent of South Korea's 50.62 million population were 65 or older, which means the country is on the brink of becoming an aged society, where more than 14 percent of the population are 65 or older.

The data also showed households' cash and bank deposits came to 1,261 trillion won as of last year, with their share to total financial assets falling to 43.1 percent from 43.5 percent.

The drop was attributed to a prolonged low-rate trend. After cutting its benchmark interest rate to a new low of 1.5 percent from 1.75 percent in June last year, the BOK had stood pat until it unexpectedly slashed it to 1.25 percent this month.

Households' shareholdings came to 615 trillion won as of end-2015, with their ratio to total financial assets edging up to 19.4 percent from 18.7 percent. Their bond holdings rose 3.5 trillion won on-year to 179 trillion won, but the share dropped to 5.6 percent from 6.1 percent, according to the data. (Yonhap)