N.Korea's GNI lower than S.Korea's minimum monthly wage in 2022

It is estimated that North Korea's economic growth rate recorded -0.2% last year. This marks the third consecutive year of negative growth since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.

The per-capita Gross National Income (GNI) reached 1.43 million won ($1,119), only about a thirtieth of South Korea's GNI, which stands at 42.48 million won or $33,232.

The Bank of Korea released the "2022 Estimate of North Korea's Economic Growth Rate" with this information on Friday. North Korea's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated at 31,361.8 billion won ($24.5 billion), showing a 0.2% decrease from 2021's 31,409.5 billion won ($24.6 billion).

North Korea's economic growth rate has been in negative territory for three straight years, following the -4.5% in 2020 when COVID-19 began, -0.1% in 2021, and -0.2% last year. This is in contrast to South Korea's performance, which experienced a rebound from -0.7% in 2020 to 4.3% in 2021 and 2.6% in 2022.

Last year, North Korea's GNI (in nominal terms) was estimated at 36.7 trillion won ($28.7 billion), showing a 1.2% increase compared to 2021's 36.3 trillion won ($28.4 billion). However, there is a significant disparity between North Korea's and South Korea's GNI. South Korea's nominal GNI is 2,193.5 trillion won ($1,715.8 billion), making it nearly 59.8 times larger than North Korea's.

Considering the significantly larger population size of South Korea, even on a per-capita GNI comparison, North Korea's 1.43 million won ($1,119) falls behind by about a thirtieth of South Korea's 42,487,000 won ($33,231). It is even lower than South Korea's monthly minimum wage for last year, which was 1,914,440 won ($1,497).

In 2022, North Korea's foreign trade volume amounted to $1,590 million, showing a 122.3% increase from $710 million in 2021. Exports were $160 million, and imports were $143 million. Inter-Korean trade remained at a paltry level of $100,000.

The Bank of Korea explained that although there was some growth in external trade, mainly centered around intermediate goods such as textiles, internal control measures for COVID-19, UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea's economy, and border closures have continued to impact the country's economic growth, along with adverse weather conditions, leading to three years of decline in a row.

Write to Jin-gyu Kang at josep@hankyung.com