Page last modified 21 August 2023
(North) Korea
Community
Area 120,538 square kilometres (land area 120,408 square kilometres)
Population,
4,000,000 (1900)
8,229,000 (1939)
9,450,000 (1950)
10,400,000 (1960) +10.1%
14,400,000 (1970) +38.5%
17,500,000 (1980) +21.5%
20,300,000 (1990) +16.0%
22,900,000 (2000) +12.8%
24,600,000 (2010) +7.4%
25,779,000 (2020) +4.8%
Ethnicity, %
|
|
Chinese |
Korean |
|
1970 |
0.7 |
99.3 |
|
2000 |
0.2 |
99.8 |
Religion, %, North Korea is officially atheist and public religion is discouraged.
|
|
Animist |
Buddhism |
Chondism |
Christian |
Confucian+Daoist |
No religion |
|
1900 |
94.2 |
5.0 |
|
0.3 |
|
0.0 |
|
1970 |
21.7 |
2.0 |
|
1.0 |
|
45.6 |
|
1990 |
|
2.0 |
14.0 |
|
14.0 |
|
|
2005 |
|
4.5 |
13.5 |
1.7 |
|
64.3 |
Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1
|
|
Fertility Rate |
Birth Rate |
Infant Mortality |
Death Rate |
% Aged Under 15 |
% Aged Over 65 |
% Urban |
|
1952 |
|
37.0 (+5.0) |
115.0 |
32.0 |
41.7 |
3.1 |
13.0 |
|
1962 |
4.2 |
41.0 (+27.4) |
|
13.6 |
37.8 |
3.2 |
42.1 |
|
1972 |
4.1 |
36.0 (+27.5) |
47.0 |
8.5 |
42.0 |
3.2 |
55.2 |
|
1980 |
2.8 |
20.0 (+13.7) |
36.7 |
6.3 |
36.6 |
3.6 |
56.9 |
|
1990 |
2.3 |
21.0 (+15.3) |
33.4 |
5.7 |
27.1 |
4.3 |
58.4 |
|
2000 |
2.0 |
18.0 (+8.9) |
44.5* |
9.1* |
25.9 |
5.9 |
59.4 |
|
2010 |
2.0 |
14.3 (+5.5) |
23.1 |
8.8 |
22.8 |
8.7 |
60.2 |
|
2015 |
1.9 |
13.9 (+5.1) |
16.0 |
8.8 |
21.1 |
9.7 |
60.9 |
|
2017 |
1.9 |
13.9 (+4.9) |
14.4 |
9.0 |
|
|
|
|
2018 |
|
|
13.7 |
|
20.1 |
9.3 |
61.9 |
*Severe famine in North Korea in
late 1990s
Life expectancy,
47.5 (1952); 46.0 (M), 49.0 (F)
51.1 (1960); 48.4 (M), 53.9 (F)
59.3 (1970); 56.2 (M), 62.5 (F)
65.7 (1980); 62.6 (M), 69.0 (F)
69.3 (1990); 66.0 (M), 72.9 (F)
65.0* (2000): 61.2 (M), 69.0 (F)
69.3 (2010); 66.0 (M), 72.9 (F)
72.3 (2020); 68.7 (M), 75.8 (F)
Population of principal cities, 1,000s
|
|
Chongjin |
Hamhung |
Kaesong |
Nampo |
PYONGYANG1 |
Sinuju |
|
1935 |
|
|
|
|
181 |
|
|
1944 |
|
|
|
|
340 |
|
|
1950 |
158 |
|
|
|
516 |
180 |
|
1960 |
200 |
150 |
140 |
100 |
653 |
226 |
|
1970 |
250 |
200 |
175 |
140 |
800 |
300 |
|
1980 |
490 |
775 |
259 |
241 |
1,280 |
305 |
|
1990 |
550 |
775 |
|
|
2,600 |
|
|
2000 |
|
|
|
|
3,136 |
|
|
2008 |
627 |
769 |
193 |
369 |
3,300 |
352 |
1Pyongyang was settled by the Chinese in the 2nd century AD. Its name means �large plain�.
Wealth; Gross Domestic Product (nominal values), The end of barter deals with the USSR in 1991 caused a steep decline in economic output.
|
|
GDP, US$ million |
Total GDP, % of USA |
GDP per capita, US$ |
GDP per capita % of USA |
|
1970 |
|
|
120 |
2.29 |
|
1975 |
7,000 |
0.43 |
|
|
|
1980 |
|
|
730 |
5.79 |
|
1985 |
20,000 |
0.47 |
995 |
5.45 |
|
1990 |
22,000 |
0.38 |
1000 |
4.17 |
|
1995 |
|
|
|
|
|
2000 |
11,000 |
0.11 |
600 |
1.65 |
|
2010 |
28,000 |
0.19 |
1,500 |
3.10 |
|
2015 |
40,000 |
0.22 |
1,800 |
3.20 |
GDP by primary sector
|
|
Agriculture % GDP |
Agriculture % employed |
Industry % GDP |
Industry % employed |
Services % GDP |
Services % employed |
|
1960 |
|
67.0 |
|
23.0 |
|
15.0 |
|
1970 |
|
53.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
1980 |
|
49.0 |
|
33.0 |
|
18.0 |
|
1990 |
24.0 |
42.8 |
|
30.0 |
|
27.0 |
|
2000 |
25.0 |
|
32.0 |
|
37.0 |
|
|
2010 |
20.8 |
35.0 |
48.2 |
|
31.0 |
|
|
2016 |
25.3 |
|
41.1 |
|
33.6 |
|
Communications
Language, Official, Korean
Literacy
95.0% (1980)
95.0% (1995); 95.0% (M), 95.0% (F)
98.0% (2010)
99.9% (2015)
Physical communications � roads and railways, For railway figures before 1950 see South Korea (all of Korea).
|
|
Roads (km) |
Surfaced (km) |
Cars |
Railways (km) |
% electrified |
|
1982 |
|
|
180,000 |
|
|
|
1984 |
22,000 |
|
|
4,473 |
60.5 |
|
1990 |
23,000 |
|
248,000 |
5,024 |
64.7 |
|
1999 |
|
|
|
4,500 |
|
|
2002 |
31,200 |
2,000 |
262,000 |
|
|
|
2014 |
|
|
|
7,435 |
72.6 |
Urban metro systems, (kilometres)
Pyongyang (opened 1973)
22.5 (2010)
Electronic communications Mobile phone services were withdrawn in 2004; a mobile device was used to detonate the 2004 bomb blast at a railway station that killed President Kim Jong Il.� A mobile phone service was reinstated in 2008, part owned by the government, and is a valuable foreign-currency earner for North Korea.
TV broadcasting began 1969.
North Korea�s first Internet cafe opened in May 2002; however the country has its own Internet, separate from the rest of the world.
TV broadcasting began 1963
|
|
Telephones (landlines) |
Mobile Telephones |
Radios |
Televisions |
PCs |
Internet Users |
|
1961 |
|
|
600,000 |
|
|
|
|
1980 |
500,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1982 |
|
|
|
200,000 |
|
|
|
1983 |
|
|
|
1,050,000 |
|
|
|
1990 |
500,000 |
|
2,600,000 |
|
|
|
|
1993 |
|
|
|
2,000,000 |
|
|
|
2000 |
800,000 |
|
3,330,000 |
3,170,000 |
|
|
|
2003 |
|
|
|
3,560,000 |
|
|
|
2009 |
|
20,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
2010 |
1,180,000 |
500,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
2012 |
|
1,000,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
2016 |
1,180,000 |
3,240,000 |
|
|
|
|
Tourism: Visitors to North Korea,
115,000 (1995)
127,000 (1996)
130,000 (1998)
400,000 (2002)
130,000 (2008)