ASIA & MIDDLE EAST · COUNTRY REFERENCE
North Korea
Written and compiled by American Business Capital Group Inc.
Selected country or entityMap: Natural Earth ↗
ANNUAL ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
Population & economic scale
The most recent non-empty observations returned by the World Bank when this snapshot was collected. Read the year on each card: these are annual statistics, not live measurements.
World Bank reporting entity: Korea, Dem. People's Rep. · 1 of 3 indicators available.
Population
26,571,036
people
observation
Definition, value & source
Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.
Received value: 26571036 people. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wpp/, publisher: UN Population Division; Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), uri: https://unstats.un.org/home/nso_sites/, publisher: National Statistical Offices; Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, Eurostat (ESTAT), uri: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database?node_code=earn_ses_monthly, publisher: Eurostat; Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), United Nations (UN), uri: https://unstats.un.org, publisher: UN Statistics Division
GDP
Not available
current US$
No observation in this snapshot
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP per capita
Not available
current US$ per person
No observation in this snapshot
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. The core indicator has been divided by the general population to achieve a per capita estimate.This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP and GDP per capita use current US dollars, without an inflation or purchasing-power-parity adjustment. Source years can differ. Missing data is not zero; earlier archive figures below are retained as a separate historical reference.
THE REFERENCE FILE
North Korea at a glance
These are historical reference facts from the 2025 World Factbook archive. Each estimate keeps its own period; an archive edition does not make every figure a measurement from that year.
Population
total: 26,402,841 (2025 est.) male: 12,884,269 female: 13,518,572
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$15.416 billion (2023 est.) $14.959 billion (2022 est.) $14.982 billion (2021 est.) note: data in 2015 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)
$16.447 billion (2023 est.) note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate
Real GDP per capita
$600 (2023 est.) $600 (2022 est.) $600 (2021 est.) note: data in 2015 dollars
Unemployment rate
2.9% (2024 est.) 2.9% (2023 est.) 2.9% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment
Labor force
17.637 million (2024 est.) note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
Electricity access
electrification - total population: 54.7% (2022 est.)
THE HISTORICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY
Explore the country in detail
Browse the economy, population, resources and infrastructure. These archived descriptions keep their original wording and dates; they have not been updated to describe current conditions.
27 of 27 sections
Location
Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Capital
name: Pyongyang geographic coordinates: 39 01 N, 125 45 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) time zone note: on 5 May 2018, North Korea reverted to UTC+9, the same time zone as South Korea etymology: the name translates as "flat land" in Korean
2018 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Economic overview
one of the last centrally planned economies; hard hit by COVID-19, crop failures, international sanctions, and isolationist policies; declining growth and trade, and heavily reliant on China; poor exchange rate stability; economic data integrity issues
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural resources
coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, precious metals, hydropower
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Agricultural products
maize, vegetables, rice, apples, cabbages, fruits, sweet potatoes, potatoes, beans, soybeans (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Industries
military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - partners
China 74%, Poland 3%, Senegal 3%, Angola 3%, Austria 3% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - commodities
fake hair, iron alloys, tungsten ore, electricity, cars (2023) note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - partners
China 97%, Togo 1%, Peru 1%, Gabon 1%, India 0% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - commodities
processed hair, plastic products, garments, fabric, soybean oil (2023) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Climate
temperate, with rainfall concentrated in summer; long, bitter winters
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Terrain
mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; wide coastal plains in west, discontinuous in east
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Land use
agricultural land: 21.6% (2023 est.) arable land: 19.1% (2023 est.) permanent crops: 2.1% (2023 est.) permanent pasture: 0.4% (2023 est.) forest: 64% (2023 est.) other: 14.5% (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural hazards
late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall volcanism: P'aektu-san (2,744 m) (also known as Baitoushan, Baegdu, or Changbaishan), on the Chinese border, is considered historically active
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Languages
Korean major-language sample(s): 월드 팩트북, 필수적인 기본 정보 제공처 (Korean) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Religions
traditionally Buddhist and Confucian, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way) note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Age structure
0-14 years: 19.9% (male 2,673,822/female 2,548,775) 15-64 years: 68.9% (male 9,054,771/female 9,066,447) 65 years and over: 11.2% (2024 est.) (male 1,099,676/female 1,855,175)
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Urbanization
urban population: 63.2% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 0.85% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2023, 2020 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 73.5 years (2024 est.) male: 70.2 years female: 77 years
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Electricity
installed generating capacity: 8.357 million kW (2023 est.) consumption: 22.448 billion kWh (2023 est.) transmission/distribution losses: 4.101 billion kWh (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Electricity generation sources
fossil fuels: 36.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) solar: 0.6% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) hydroelectricity: 62.5% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Petroleum
refined petroleum consumption: 18,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Carbon dioxide emissions
55.744 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from coal and metallurgical coke: 52.985 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from petroleum and other liquids: 2.759 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Telephones - mobile cellular
total subscriptions: 6.35 million (2022 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 24 (2022 est.)
2022 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Airports
81 (2025)
2025 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Railways
total: 7,435 km (2014) standard gauge: 7,435 km (2014) 1.435-m gauge (5,400 km electrified) note: figures are approximate; some narrow-gauge railway also exists
2014 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Ports
total ports: 10 (2024) large: 0 medium: 0 small: 7 very small: 3 ports with oil terminals: 0 key ports: Ch'ongjin, Haeju Hang, Hungnam, Najin, Nampo, Senbong, Wonsan
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
CURRENCY OBSERVATIONS
Money & exchange rates
The latest verified daily references are separate from the historical country profile. Values are currency units per US$1.
North Korean Won
KPW per US$1
Published reference snapshot; its original observation date is preserved.
1 KPW = US$0.007691716
129.98–130.01 KPW per US$1 across the displayed observations. The vertical scale follows this range.
View dated observations
| Observation date | KPW per US$1 |
|---|---|
| Oct 6, 2026 | 130.01 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | 129.98 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Oct 1, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 130 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 27, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 26, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 24, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 23, 2026 | 130.01 |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 130 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 130 |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 130 |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 130 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 130 |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 130 |
| Sep 16, 2026 | 129.98 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 129.98 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 13, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 12, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 10, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 9, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | 129.99 |
| Sep 7, 2026 | 130 |
Daily references are not live execution prices. A check time does not change a source observation date.
CAPITAL MARKETS
Stock exchanges
No venue from our curated stock exchange directory is listed for this entity.
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Official data & country reports
Research directories have their own coverage. A link is not a claim that every entity has an IMF report or a separate national statistical office.
SOURCES & DATES
Where the facts come from.
Editorial presentation by American Business Capital Group Inc. The organizations and archive links below are the underlying sources.
- Country reference
- CIA World Factbook · 2025 archive
- Archive retrieved
- Oct 6, 2026 · retrieval date, not an observation period
- Currency associations
- SIX / ISO 4217 currency registry ↗
- Rate observations
- Frankfurter / official reference providers ↗ · each observation is dated separately
- State classification
- UN member states ↗ · UN observer states ↗
- UN membership is shown separately from territory and currency coverage; inclusion is not a position on sovereignty or boundaries.
- CIA World Factbook text preserved by World Factbook Archive. Archive edition 2025; individual estimates retain their own dates. These are historical reference facts, not current observations.
About the editions. The CIA announced the end of its online World Factbook on February 4, 2026. Our historical profiles retain the archive editions shown above.
Skyhorse lists The CIA World Factbook 2026–2027, published April 7, 2026 (ISBN 9781510786042). That book’s full text has not been incorporated here; its edition title does not redate the imported archive. Archive distribution license.
Geography is a simplified reference. Displayed boundaries and entity inclusion do not express a position on sovereignty or disputed borders.