The economy North Korea's economy to have grown significantly in 2023

After three years of corona isolation, the North Korean economy is estimated to have picked up speed again for the first time. This is mainly due to the rapid increase in foreign trade.

As the South Korean central bank announced in its annual estimate on Friday, North Korea's gross domestic product rose by 3.1 percent in the previous year. Previously, North Korean GDP had shrunk for three consecutive years during the coronavirus pandemic and in the wake of rigid UN sanctions.

The North Korean economy recorded the largest increase in 2023 in the manufacturing industry (5.9%) and the construction sector (8.1%). According to estimates by the South Korean central bank, North Korea's foreign trade grew to USD 2.77 billion in the previous year, an increase of 74.6% compared to 2022. North Korea's largest trading partner by far is the People's Republic of China, followed by Russia.

Support from Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin last visited the North Korean capital Pyongyang in June, where he promised closer cooperation in talks with North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un.

Both the USA and South Korea accuse the North Korean regime of supporting Russia in the Ukraine war by supplying weapons. North Korea is said to have supplied Russia with artillery ammunition and missiles, among other things.

Unreliable data

As the North Korean government does not publish any reliable data on gross domestic product, the estimates published by the South Korean central bank since 1991 are usually used as an indicator of the economic development of the hermetically sealed neighboring state. The estimates are based on intelligence sources and data from the Ministry of Unification in Seoul, among others.

North Korea is one of the poorest economies in the world. North Korea's gross national income per capita is only 3.4 percent of that of South Korea.

SDA