One in four Korean households spent more than their disposable income in the fourth quarter, pushing the share of deficit-running households to the highest level in six years, government data showed Monday. The ratio came to 25 percent for the October-December period, the highest since the fourth quarter of 2019, when it stood at 26.2 percent, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. A deficit household refers to one whose consumption spending exceeds its disposable income. Market analysts said prolonged high inflation has again strained household finances, with spending rising faster than income. They noted that deficit-running households may lack surplus funds for investment, potentially missing out on gains in asset values despite a recent rally in the stock market. A government official cautioned, however, that the fourth-quarter increase may have been influenced by temporary factors, including higher expenditure on durable goods and seasonal spending related to the Chuseok holiday, which fell in October. The proportion of deficit-running households generally ris