"People's paradise"

No crisis: North Korea’s economy is booming

The North Korean capital Pyongyang

(Bild: All rights reserved to Vincent Prevost stock.adobe)

The economy of the dictatorially ruled country is likely to have grown significantly in 2023. Ruler Kim Jong-un has big plans: At celebrations to mark the anniversary of the end of the Korean War, he called for the construction of a "people's paradise".

It is the "sacred mission and duty of our generation" to "reliably defend our ideology and our social system" and "build a paradise for the people", Kim said combatively on Friday, according to the North Korean news agency KCNA.

Economically, the country, which is one of the poorest economies in the world, should at least be on the upswing. 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.

Residential buildings in Pyongyang

(Bild: BGStock72 - stock.adobe.com)

Construction sector benefits 
In 2023, the North Korean economy recorded the largest increase in the manufacturing industry (5.9 percent) and the construction sector (8.1 percent). 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.

China and Russia are the most important trading partners
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.

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.