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SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's industrial lending continued to grow in the third quarter as the economic downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic raised corporate demand for loans, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Lending to industrial companies, extended by deposit-taking financial institutions, reached 1,366 trillion won (1.24 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of September, up 37.8 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The third-quarter growth was down from the record quarterly increase of 69.1 trillion won in the second quarter, but it was higher than an expansion of 20.5 trillion won recorded in the third quarter of last year.

Corporate demand for loans rose sharply this year as companies rushed to borrow money amid an economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Lending to the services industry gained 28.9 trillion won during the July-September quarter, after surging 47.2 trillion won in the second quarter.

Mom-and-pop stores and microbusinesses in the services sector were hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, which discouraged people from doing outside activities such as shopping, eating-out and traveling.

Lending to the manufacturing industry expanded 5.8 trillion won in the third quarter, after advancing 17.2 trillion won in the previous quarter. (1 U.S. dollar equals 1,100.3 South Korean won) Enditem