KP
East Asia & Pacific · Low income
North Korea: key statistics
North Korea has 26.6m people (2025). Below: 43 indicators with the latest year, world rank and change over ten years.
- Capital
- Pyongyang
- Region
- East Asia & Pacific
- Income group
- Low income
- Currency
- North Korean won KPW
- Languages
- Korean, North Korean standard language
- ISO codes
- KPPRK
- Land neighbours
- China, South Korea, Russia
topic profiles
North Korea, topic by topic
Each profile brings together the indicators of one topic with world and regional rank, values since 2000, group averages and a comparison with neighbours.
Population
North Korea
Life expectancy
North KoreaEast Asia & PacificWorld
Internet users
North KoreaEast Asia & PacificWorld
all indicators
North Korea by topic
World rank counts countries with a value in the recent window; regional rank is within East Asia & Pacific.
PopulationFull population profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 26.6m | 2025 | 56/217 | 11/37 | +3.9% | 8.2bn | |
| Population growth | 0.27% | 2025 | 155/217 | 24/37 | −0.2 pp | 0.91% | |
| Urban share | 64.2% | 2025 | 109/217 | 20/37 | +2.9 pp | 57.8% | |
| Fertility | 1.78 | 2024 | 120/217 | 25/37 | −4.8% | 2.19 | |
| Aged 65+ | 12.7% | 2025 | 78/217 | 11/37 | +1.8 pp | 10.4% | |
| Aged 0–14 | 18.9% | 2025 | 132/217 | 26/37 | −0.9 pp | 24.4% | |
| Density | 220.1 | 2024 | 63/216 | 12/37 | +4.1% | 62.1 | |
| Birth rate | 12.9 | 2024 | 112/217 | 24/37 | −4.1% | 16.3 | |
| Area | 120,540 km² | 2024 | 100/216 | 15/37 | ±0.0% | 140,539,257 km² |
LabourFull labour profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment | 3.5% | 2025 | 128/187 | 13/29 | ±0.0 pp | 4.8% | |
| Youth unemployment | 7.9% | 2025 | 139/187 | 16/29 | +0.1 pp | 13.4% | |
| Participation rate | 82.2% | 2025 | 7/187 | 3/29 | +0.1 pp | 61.0% | |
| Women's participation | 77.7% | 2025 | 6/187 | 2/29 | +0.1 pp | 48.9% |
Aid, poverty & equality
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net ODA received | $14.4m | 2023 | 139/145 | 22/24 | −87% | $259bn | |
| ODA per person | $0.55 | 2023 | 143/145 | 22/24 | −87% | $32.2 | |
| Undernourishment | 47.0% | 2018 | — | — | +6.5 pp | 8.1% | |
| Women in parliament | 17.6% | 2025 | 138/190 | 15/30 | +1.3 pp | 27.2% |
EducationFull education profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 100.0% | 2008 | — | — | — | 87.7% | |
| Female literacy | 100.0% | 2008 | — | — | — | 84.6% | |
| Primary enrolment | 92.1% | 2018 | — | — | — | 102.2% | |
| Secondary enrolment | 94.3% | 2015 | — | — | — | 77.3% | |
| Tertiary enrolment | 26.7% | 2018 | 114/172 | 21/27 | — | 43.6% | |
| Primary completion | 97.1% | 2009 | — | — | — | 88.0% | |
| Pupils per teacher | 20.3 | 2018 | 76/173 | 13/27 | — | 23.4 |
HealthFull health profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 73.7 yrs | 2024 | 119/217 | 17/37 | +1.8% | 73.5 yrs | |
| Infant mortality | 13.3 | 2024 | 94/196 | 16/30 | −27% | 27.7 | |
| Under-5 mortality | 16.7 | 2024 | 89/196 | 17/30 | −26% | 37.4 | |
| Maternal mortality | 67 | 2023 | 82/194 | 17/30 | −11% | 197 | |
| Physicians | 3.63 | 2017 | — | — | +17% | 1.86 | |
| Measles vaccination | 99% | 2024 | 11/193 | 2/30 | ±0.0 pp | 84% | |
| Child stunting | 19.1% | 2017 | 60/154 | 13/25 | −24.0 pp | — | |
| Basic water | 93.9% | 2023 | 130/206 | 26/37 | −2.0 pp | 91.5% | |
| Basic sanitation | 84.8% | 2023 | 134/203 | 26/37 | +4.6 pp | 82.2% |
Digital & energy accessFull digital & energy access profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 0.0% | 2004 | — | — | — | 73.6% | |
| Mobile subscriptions | 24.1 | 2022 | 209/210 | 33/34 | +258% | 111.5 | |
| Electricity access | 61.4% | 2024 | 185/215 | 35/36 | +23.6 pp | 91.9% | |
| Clean cooking | 22.0% | 2024 | 159/192 | 25/30 | +12.0 pp | 75.4% |
EnvironmentFull environment profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO₂ per person | 2.50 t | 2024 | 106/203 | 19/37 | +53% | 4.69 t | |
| Renewable energy | 14.7% | 2021 | 125/212 | 16/37 | −0.1 pp | 19.7% | |
| Renewable power | 63.1% | 2021 | 50/206 | 3/35 | +0.2 pp | 27.8% | |
| Forest cover | 64.1% | 2024 | 24/214 | 11/35 | +0.9 pp | 31.1% | |
| Arable land | 19.1% | 2024 | 57/206 | 5/34 | −0.3 pp | 10.7% | |
| Water withdrawals | 12.9% | 2022 | 76/177 | 9/20 | ±0.0 pp | 9.0% |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
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