Economy - overview:
North Korea, one of the world's most centrally directed and least open economies, faces chronic economic problems. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of underinvestment, shortages of spare parts, and poor maintenance. Large-scale military spending draws off resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. Industrial and power output have stagnated for years at a fraction of pre-1990 levels. Frequent weather-related crop failures aggravated chronic food shortages caused by on-going systemic problems, including a lack of arable land, collective farming practices, poor soil quality, insufficient fertilization, and persistent shortages of tractors and fuel. Large-scale international food aid deliveries have allowed the people of North Korea to escape widespread starvation since famine threatened in 1995, but the population continues to suffer from prolonged malnutrition and poor living conditions. Since 2002, the government has allowed private "farmers' markets" to begin selling a wider range of goods. It also permitted some private farming - on an experimental basis - in an effort to boost agricultural output. In December 2009, North Korea carried out a redenomination of its currency, capping the amount of North Korean won that could be exchanged for the new notes, and limiting the exchange to a one-week window. A concurrent crackdown on markets and foreign currency use yielded severe shortages and inflation, forcing Pyongyang to ease the restrictions by February 2010. In response to the sinking of the South Korean destroyer Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyong Island, South Korea's government cut off most aid, trade, and bilateral cooperation activities, with the exception of operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. In preparation for 2012, the 100th anniversary of Kim Il-sung's birthday, North Korea continued efforts to develop special economic zones with China and expressed willingness to permit construction of a trilateral gas pipeline that would carry Russian natural gas to South Korea. The North Korean government often highlights its 2012 goal of becoming a "strong and prosperous" nation and attracting foreign investment, a key factor for improving the overall standard of living. Nevertheless, firm political control remains the government's overriding concern, which likely will inhibit changes to North Korea's current economic system.
GDP (purchasing power parity): GDP (official exchange rate): GDP - real growth rate: GDP - per capita (PPP): GDP - composition by sector: Labor force: Labor force - by occupation: Unemployment rate: Population below poverty line: Household income or consumption by percentage share: Budget: Taxes and other revenues: Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-): Inflation rate (consumer prices): Agriculture - products: Industries: Industrial production growth rate: Electricity - production: Electricity - consumption: Electricity - exports: Electricity - imports: Oil - production: Oil - consumption: Oil - exports: Oil - imports: Natural gas - production: Natural gas - consumption: Natural gas - exports: Natural gas - imports: Natural gas - proved reserves: Exports: Exports - commodities: Exports - partners: Imports: Imports - commodities: Imports - partners: Debt - external: Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: Exchange rates:
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Korea, North on this page is re-published from the 2012 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Korea, North Economy 2012 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Korea, North Economy 2012 should be addressed to the CIA.
$40 billion (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 99
note: data are in 2011 US dollars;
[see also: GDP country ranks ]
$28 billion (2009 est.)
[see also: GDP (official exchange rate) country ranks ]
4% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 101
[see also: GDP - real growth rate country ranks ]
$1,800 (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 191
note: data are in 2011 US dollars
[see also: GDP - per capita country ranks ]
agriculture: 20.8%
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - agriculture country ranks ]
industry: 48.2%
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - industry country ranks ]
services: 31% (2010 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - services country ranks ]
12.2 million
country comparison to the world: 41
note: estimates vary widely (2009 est.)
[see also: Labor force country ranks ]
agriculture: 35%
[see also: Labor force - by occupation - agriculture country ranks ]
industry and services: 65% (2008 est.)
NA%
[see also: Unemployment rate country ranks ]
NA%
[see also: Population below poverty line country ranks ]
lowest 10%: NA%
[see also: Household income or consumption by percentage share - lowest 10% country ranks ]
highest 10%: NA%
[see also: Household income or consumption by percentage share - highest 10% country ranks ]
revenues: $3.2 billion
[see also: Budget revenues country ranks ]
expenditures: $3.3 billion (2007 est.)
[see also: Budget expenditures country ranks ]
11.4% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 201
note: excludes earnings from state operated enterprises (2007 est.)
[see also: Taxes and other revenues country ranks ]
-0.4% of GDP (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 47
[see also: Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) country ranks ]
NA%
[see also: Inflation rate (consumer prices) country ranks ]
rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs
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
NA%
[see also: Industrial production growth rate country ranks ]
22.52 billion kWh (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 68
[see also: Electricity - production country ranks ]
18.85 billion kWh (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 69
[see also: Electricity - consumption country ranks ]
0 kWh (2009 est.)
[see also: Electricity - exports country ranks ]
0 kWh (2009 est.)
[see also: Electricity - imports country ranks ]
118 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 118
[see also: Oil - production country ranks ]
13,000 bbl/day (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 147
[see also: Oil - consumption country ranks ]
0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 181
[see also: Oil - exports country ranks ]
15,810 bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 125
[see also: Oil - imports country ranks ]
0 cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 200
[see also: Natural gas - production country ranks ]
0 cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 193
[see also: Natural gas - consumption country ranks ]
0 cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 125
[see also: Natural gas - exports country ranks ]
0 cu m (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 83
[see also: Natural gas - imports country ranks ]
0 cu m (1 January 2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 152
[see also: Natural gas - proved reserves country ranks ]
$2.557 billion (2010)
country comparison to the world: 133
[see also: Exports country ranks ]
minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, agricultural and fishery products
China 50.3%, Brazil 5.7%, Lebanon 4.7%, Dominican Republic 4.2%, Netherlands 4.1% (2010)
$3.529 billion (2010)
country comparison to the world: 141
[see also: Imports country ranks ]
petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, grain
China 40.6%, Algeria 34.2%, India 8.9% (2010)
$12.5 billion (2001 est.)
country comparison to the world: 88
[see also: Debt - external country ranks ]
$1.475 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 90
[see also: Stock of direct foreign investment - at home country ranks ]
North Korean won (KPW) per US dollar (market rate)
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 07-Mar-12