- North Korea's economy grew 3.7 per cent in 2024, fastest in 8 years.
- Pyongyang modernised with new homes, hospital, and delivery apps.
- Credibility of economic data questioned due to regime's secrecy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently visited North Korea on the invitation of its Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. His first visit to the country in seven years, was considered significant amid North Korea’s rising economic success and increasing partnerships with China and Russia.
North Korea's Economic Boom Under Scrutiny
One of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world, North Korea is slowly improving its economy. While most people in the country are still poor, its capital city, Pyongyang, has changed a lot in the last few years. It has become much more modern. Tourists who spoke to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times said the city now has many more cars, smartphones, and people using delivery apps than before, highlighting the growth.
According to the South Korean central bank, North Korea's economy grew by 3.7 per cent in 2024, marking its fastest growth in eight years. Moreover, North Korea built 10,000 new homes in Pyongyang last year. It also completed the city's largest hospital and finished building a greenhouse, same as the size of New York's Central Park, along with a beach resort. As per The Wall Street Journal report, satellite data shows that North Korea is now about three times brighter at night than it was five years ago.
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It is reported that North Korea's economic recovery began after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. According to think tank INSS, from the summer of 2023 to the end of 2024, the country earned more than USD 10 billion by selling munitions to Russia and sending troops. Additionally, hackers in the country have stolen billions of dollars from cryptocurrency exchanges in recent years.
Is It Real?
However, North Korea’s economic success is full of contrasts. While the headlines may tell a compelling story of the country’s growth, major questions remain over the credibility of the data. Since the 1960s, Pyongyang has not released official national economic statistics, including GDP, inflation, growth rates, and trade figures. It has deliberately withheld it from both the public and international bodies as a matter of policy.
Furthermore, much of the North Korean economic data comes from South Korea or mirror trade data from China's customs. It is also either from its trade partners or from Western intelligence using satellites to detect nightlights, which give partial clues. Moreover, finding objective facts about the country is hard because the government controls all information. While stories from people who escaped are helpful, they only show a small part of the picture.
Overall, North Korea's economy is still very small. Its total GDP is less than 1 per cent of the United States' GDP. Most of the country's economic growth is taking place only in Pyongyang and also nearly half of North Korea's 26 million people are still malnourished.
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