The current population of North Korea is 26,621,357 people, as of 2025 based on the adjusted UN estimation. The latest officially reported number was 26,498,823 in 2024.
Population facts:
- North Korea is projected to reach 26.8M people in 2032.
- Since 2005, population has increased from 24.4M people to 26.6M (9.12% growth in 20 years).
- For the last 20 years, North Korea has had an average growth rate of 0.46% per year.
- North Korea is ranked 56/197 by population and was ranked 46th in 2005.
- North Korea accounts for 0.32% of the world's population.
North Korea population clock
North Korea
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
26621357
|
8266870341
|
| Population rank | 56/197 | N/A |
| Percent of world population | 0.32% | N/A |
| One net population change |
6.52 minutes
|
0.41 seconds
|
| One birth every |
1.54 minutes
|
0.24 seconds
|
| One death every |
2.05 minutes
|
0.52 seconds
|
| Daily growth/decline | +221 | +211,178 |
| Annual growth/decline | +80,619 | +77,079,845 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | +0.31% | +0.96% |
| Population growth rate rank | 149/197 | N/A |
| One migration net change every |
3.54 hours
|
N/A |
| Annual migration change | -2,473 | N/A |
North Korea population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 11,722,953 | - |
| 1961 | 11,990,713 | 2.28% |
| 1962 | 12,262,882 | 2.27% |
| 1963 | 12,567,057 | 2.48% |
| 1964 | 12,889,770 | 2.57% |
| 1965 | 13,219,369 | 2.56% |
| 1966 | 13,569,094 | 2.65% |
| 1967 | 13,958,350 | 2.87% |
| 1968 | 14,365,596 | 2.92% |
| 1969 | 14,767,615 | 2.8% |
| 1970 | 15,172,775 | 2.74% |
| 1971 | 15,572,457 | 2.63% |
| 1972 | 15,975,069 | 2.59% |
| 1973 | 16,350,367 | 2.35% |
| 1974 | 16,673,121 | 1.97% |
| 1975 | 16,971,055 | 1.79% |
| 1976 | 17,243,450 | 1.61% |
| 1977 | 17,492,798 | 1.45% |
| 1978 | 17,735,995 | 1.39% |
| 1979 | 17,983,470 | 1.4% |
| 1980 | 18,236,786 | 1.41% |
| 1981 | 18,501,295 | 1.45% |
| 1982 | 18,776,357 | 1.49% |
| 1983 | 19,054,034 | 1.48% |
| 1984 | 19,335,043 | 1.47% |
| 1985 | 19,620,388 | 1.48% |
| 1986 | 19,910,855 | 1.48% |
| 1987 | 20,205,483 | 1.48% |
| 1988 | 20,503,161 | 1.47% |
| 1989 | 20,804,367 | 1.47% |
| 1990 | 21,112,137 | 1.48% |
| 1991 | 21,428,638 | 1.5% |
| 1992 | 21,750,911 | 1.5% |
| 1993 | 22,073,352 | 1.48% |
| 1994 | 22,393,975 | 1.45% |
| 1995 | 22,669,304 | 1.23% |
| 1996 | 22,895,746 | 1% |
| 1997 | 23,110,830 | 0.94% |
| 1998 | 23,311,564 | 0.87% |
| 1999 | 23,497,599 | 0.8% |
| 2000 | 23,665,910 | 0.72% |
| 2001 | 23,815,358 | 0.63% |
| 2002 | 23,943,973 | 0.54% |
| 2003 | 24,090,380 | 0.61% |
| 2004 | 24,254,943 | 0.68% |
| 2005 | 24,396,433 | 0.58% |
| 2006 | 24,524,507 | 0.52% |
| 2007 | 24,646,383 | 0.5% |
| 2008 | 24,764,618 | 0.48% |
| 2009 | 24,878,332 | 0.46% |
| 2010 | 24,987,258 | 0.44% |
| 2011 | 25,097,874 | 0.44% |
| 2012 | 25,211,728 | 0.45% |
| 2013 | 25,329,451 | 0.47% |
| 2014 | 25,451,262 | 0.48% |
| 2015 | 25,575,350 | 0.49% |
| 2016 | 25,698,326 | 0.48% |
| 2017 | 25,817,709 | 0.46% |
| 2018 | 25,931,147 | 0.44% |
| 2019 | 26,037,632 | 0.41% |
| 2020 | 26,136,312 | 0.38% |
| 2021 | 26,232,534 | 0.37% |
| 2022 | 26,328,845 | 0.37% |
| 2023 | 26,418,204 | 0.34% |
| 2024 | 26,498,823 | 0.31% |
| 2025 | 26,571,033 | 0.27% |
| 2026 | 26,633,682 | 0.24% |
| 2027 | 26,686,492 | 0.2% |
| 2028 | 26,729,261 | 0.16% |
| 2029 | 26,762,008 | 0.12% |
| 2030 | 26,784,894 | 0.09% |
| 2031 | 26,797,946 | 0.05% |
| 2032 | 26,801,071 | 0.01% |
| 2033 | 26,795,061 | -0.02% |
| 2034 | 26,780,481 | -0.05% |
| 2035 | 26,757,705 | -0.09% |
| 2036 | 26,727,309 | -0.11% |
| 2037 | 26,689,907 | -0.14% |
| 2038 | 26,646,323 | -0.16% |
| 2039 | 26,596,967 | -0.19% |
| 2040 | 26,542,417 | -0.21% |
| 2041 | 26,483,475 | -0.22% |
| 2042 | 26,420,812 | -0.24% |
| 2043 | 26,354,324 | -0.25% |
| 2044 | 26,284,000 | -0.27% |
| 2045 | 26,210,196 | -0.28% |
| 2046 | 26,132,922 | -0.29% |
| 2047 | 26,052,086 | -0.31% |
| 2048 | 25,967,581 | -0.32% |
| 2049 | 25,879,244 | -0.34% |
| 2050 | 25,787,120 | -0.36% |
North Korea has a population of 26.6M as of 2025, compared to 25.6M in 2015, 24.4M in 2005, and 22.7M in 1995.
Over the past 10 years, the population has had a trend to increase by an average of 0.41% per year. North Korea is ranked 143rd out of 197 countries by a 10-year average growth rate.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 20 years (in 2045) North Korea will have 26,210,196 people (-1.54% decline) with a rank change from 56th to 64th.
By the year 2100, North Korea's population is projected to decline by 26.7% to 19.5M people.
Largest cities by population
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North Korea population statistics
|
North Korea
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 73.9 years | 73.5 years |
| Average age | 38 years | 33.8 years |
| Median age | 37.3 years | 31.6 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 49.5:50.5 | 50.3:49.7 |
| Fertility rate | 1.78 births per woman | 2.2 births per woman |
| Population density | 570 ppl/mi² | 141.6 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
North Korea topic pages:
Population comparisons
