The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) in South Korea shrank 22 percent on-year in 2021 due to declined sales of government-led mortgage securities, data showed Tuesday.

The ABS issued last year were valued at 61.7 trillion won ($51.8 billion), down 17.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

ABS refer to securities based on such assets as mortgages, auto loans, credit-card receivables and student loans.

The decline stemmed mostly from a fall in the issuance of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) by the state-run Korea Housing Finance Corp.

The agency sold 36.6 trillion won worth of MBS last year, down 12 trillion won from a year earlier, the data showed.

Financial firms' ABS issuance declined 2.9 trillion won on-year to 15.8 trillion won. The ABS issuance by non-financial firms also fell 2.5 trillion to 9.3 trillion won. (Yonhap)