Korea, Dem. People's Rep. in numbers

Name: Korea, Dem. People's Rep. development indicators
Creator: World Bank
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Korea, Dem. People's Rep. is in East Asia & Pacific and is classed by the World Bank as low income. Its capital is Pyongyang. Its population was 26.57 million in 2025, ranking 56 of 217 countries.

Population26.57 million2025

Life expectancy73.72024

Area120,5402024

Urban share64.2%2025

People

Population

26.57 million

2025 · +12% since 2000 · Rank 56 of 217

Population growth (annual %)

0.27%

2025 · 0.71% in 2000 · Rank 155 of 217

Population density (people per km²)

220.1

2024 · +12% since 2000 · Rank 63 of 216

Urban population (% of total)

64.2%

2025 · 59.4% in 2000 · Rank 109 of 217

Population aged 0 to 14 (% of total)

18.9%

2025 · 25.6% in 2000 · Rank 132 of 217

Population aged 65 and over (% of total)

12.7%

2025 · 6.4% in 2000 · Rank 78 of 217

Fertility rate (births per woman)

1.78

2024 · -8% since 2000 · Rank 120 of 217

Health and living standards

Life expectancy at birth (years)

73.7

2024 · +21% since 2000 · Rank 119 of 217

Under-5 mortality (per 1,000 live births)

16.7

2024 · -83% since 2000 · Rank 89 of 196

Access to electricity (% of population)

61.4%

2024 · 26.0% in 2009 · Rank 185 of 215

Internet users (% of population)

0.0%

2004 · 0.0% in 2000

Primary school enrolment (% gross)

92.1%

2018 · 101.2% in 2009

Economy

Unemployment (% of labour force, ILO estimate)

3.5%

2025 · 3.7% in 2000 · Rank 128 of 187

Land and environment

Land and water area (km²)

120,540

2024 · +0% since 2000 · Rank 100 of 216

Forest area (% of land area)

64.1%

2024 · 61.9% in 2000 · Rank 24 of 214

CO₂ emissions per person (tonnes)

2.50

2024 · -20% since 2000 · Rank 106 of 203

Elsewhere in East Asia & Pacific

American Samoa Australia Brunei Darussalam China Fiji Micronesia, Fed. Sts.Guam Hong Kong SAR, China Indonesia Japan Cambodia Kiribati

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, updated 8 October 2026. Each figure is the latest year available for Korea, Dem. People's Rep.. Rankings compare countries with data from the same or recent years.