Spanish banks' non-performing loan ratio climbed to a new record of 10.7 percent in September, the highest level since 1962, the country's central bank said Monday.

The total value of these loans, a major concern for financial markets as an indicator of the country's financial health, was 182.2 billion euros (about 233 billion U.S. dollars) in September, the bank said.

The level of Spanish banks' bad loans has risen steadily over recent months. On a monthly basis, the September figure was 0.18 percentage points higher than that of August.

Increasing arrears in the Spanish banking sector are caused by the economic crisis that has plagued the country for years, and is accompanied by rising unemployment and paycheck cuts.