SEOUL, March 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' combined net income rose in single digits in 2025 due to a rapid increase in non-interest income, financial watchdog data showed Thursday.

Net income of domestic banks totaled 24.1 trillion won (16.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up 8.2 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

Interest income mounted 1.8 percent to 60.4 trillion won (40.6 billion dollars) on the back of the expanded interest-bearing assets that offset the lower net interest margin (NIM).

The NIM declined 0.06 percentage points to 1.51 percent in 2025 on a yearly basis, but the interest-bearing assets swelled 4.6 percent to 3,442.0 trillion won (2.31 trillion dollars).

The country's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50 percent after reducing it by 25 basis points in February and May of 2025 and in October and November of 2024.

Non-interest income jumped 26.9 percent to 7.6 trillion won (5.1 billion dollars) last year, driven by a surge in gains relevant to transactions for hedging against interest rate and currency risks.

Loan-loss expenses retreated 5.9 percent to 6.5 trillion won (4.4 billion dollars) in the cited year.

The return on assets for local banks, a key gauge of profitability, inched up 0.01 percentage point to 0.59 percent, while the return on equity added 0.17 percentage points to 7.93 percent. ■