Trend of National Debt and Debt-to-GDP Ratio by Year [Provided by Board of Audit and Inspection]

Last year, the central government's debt reached 1,268.1 trillion won, an increase of 126.9 trillion won compared to 2024.

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) announced this on the 29th while submitting the "State Accounts Inspection Report," which corrected errors in the "Report on the Audit of State Finances for Fiscal Year 2025" submitted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to the National Assembly.

Of the debt, deficit-related debt to be repaid with taxes amounted to 889.3 trillion won (70.1%), and financial debt with corresponding assets was 378.8 trillion won (29.9%).

The debt-to-GDP ratio (central government basis) was 47.6%, an increase of 3.0 percentage points (p) from the previous year (44.6%).

Revenue for fiscal year 2025 was 597.9 trillion won, and expenditure was 591 trillion won, with a surplus of 3.2 trillion won recorded.

The overall fiscal balance showed an increase in deficit by 3.2 trillion won compared to the previous year, while the managed fiscal balance saw a decrease in deficit by 600 billion won.

While the settlement of revenue and expenditure for last year matched the figures from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the BAI's calculations, a total of 19 trillion won in errors was identified in the financial statements.

Specifically, errors were found in the asset category amounting to 9.4 trillion won, in the liability category amounting to 400 billion won, and in the fiscal operations result category (calculated by deducting non-recoverable revenue, etc., from net operating cost) amounting to 9.2 trillion won.

Examples include uncollected national taxes (inheritance tax, gift tax, etc.) of 9.359 trillion won from the National Tax Service not being accounted for as assets, and the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area Express Railway infrastructure (railways, bridges, etc.) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport not being registered as national property (2.786 trillion won).

After correcting the errors, national assets stood at 3,593.4 trillion won, liabilities at 2,772 trillion won, and fiscal operation results at 64 trillion won.

Furthermore, the BAI's inspection of supporting documents for the financial statements, such as the Comprehensive Report on the Management and Operation of National Property, the Report on the Management and Operation of Goods, and the Statement of Outstanding Bonds, revealed that national property worth 3.4974 trillion won and goods worth 7.5 billion won were understated in the books.

After correcting the errors, national property was tallied at 1,402.7 trillion won, goods at 17.3 trillion won, and bonds at 613.3 trillion won.

In the performance report review, issues were identified in 4 planning areas and 10 reporting areas. For example, the Korea Forest Service overestimated its performance by miscalculating the number of days with heavy rain advisories when assessing whether the performance indicator for "area of forest disaster damage in preparation for weather warnings" was met.

Separately, the BAI stated that it conducted settlement audits and regular institutional audits of 143 organizations last year, as well as performance, special, and citizen proposal audits for 49 matters.

A total of 1,383 illegal and improper matters were pointed out in the past year. Among these, 575 cases required actions such as restitution judgments, corrective measures, disciplinary actions, and reprimands, while 798 cases were recommendations or notifications for system improvements.

Board of Audit and Inspection [Yonhap News photo]