SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Debts among South Korean households grew on faster debt increase in the wealthy class, joint government data showed on Thursday.

Debts per household averaged 75.31 million won (66,800 U.S. dollars) as of the end of March, up 6.1 percent from a year ago, according to joint data by Statistics Korea, Bank of Korea (BOK) and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Debts among the top 20-percent upper class averaged 168.71 million won (149,600 U.S. dollars) per household as of end-March, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier.

The per-household debt for the lowest 20-percent income bracket gained 4.3 percent to 15.79 million won (14,000 U.S. dollars) in the cited period, while the figure for the 20-40 percent low-income bracket rose 2.2 percent to 37.64 million won (33,300 U.S. dollars).

The amount of debts among the top 20-percent income bracket was more than 10 times the amount for the lowest 20-percent income bracket, accounting for 44.8 percent of the total household debts.

The BOK raised its benchmark interest rate in late November to 1.75 percent, the first rate increase in 12 months.

The BOK was forecast to hike rates further next year as the U.S. Federal Reserve lifted its target rate overnight to a range of 2.25-2.50 percent, widening the gap between policy rates in South Korea and the United States.