The latest officially reported population of North Korea was 26,498,823 in 2024 vs 17,695 people in Palau in 2024. In 2025, based on the adjusted UN estimation, the current North Korea's population is 26,621,357 people compared to 17,663 in Palau.
Population statistics:
- North Korea's population is 1,507 times bigger than Palau's.
- North Korea is ranked the 56th most populous country in the world, while Palau is the 194th.
- The countries together account for 0.32% of the world: 0.32% for North Korea vs 0.0002% for Palau.
- For the last 10 years, North Korea has had an average growth rate of +0.41% per year vs +0.02% in Palau.
- Since 2005, the population of North Korea has increased from 24.4M people to 26.6M (9.12% growth), while Palau has declined from 19.8K to 17.7K (10.9% decline).
- North Korea is projected to reach its peak in 2032 at 26.8M people, while Palau's population already peaked in 2004 at 19.8K people and is projected to decrease to 11.1K people by 2100.
North Korea vs Palau: live population counter
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
26621357
|
17663
|
| Population rank | 56/197 | 194/197 |
| Percent of world population | 0.32% | 0.0002% |
| One net population change |
6.52 minutes
|
1.63 weeks
|
| One birth every |
1.54 minutes
|
1.89 days
|
| One death every |
2.05 minutes
|
1.8 days
|
| One migration net change every |
3.54 hours
|
3.72 weeks
|
| Annual migration change | -2,473 | -14 |
| Daily growth/decline | +221 | +0 |
| Annual growth/decline | +80,619 | -32 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | +0.31% | -0.18% |
| Population growth rate rank | 149/197 | 176/197 |
North Korea and Palau: population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1960 | 11,722,953 | 9,328 | - | - |
| 1961 | 11,990,713 | 9,555 | 2.28% | 2.43% |
| 1962 | 12,262,882 | 9,793 | 2.27% | 2.49% |
| 1963 | 12,567,057 | 10,037 | 2.48% | 2.49% |
| 1964 | 12,889,770 | 10,292 | 2.57% | 2.54% |
| 1965 | 13,219,369 | 10,547 | 2.56% | 2.48% |
| 1966 | 13,569,094 | 10,805 | 2.65% | 2.45% |
| 1967 | 13,958,350 | 10,988 | 2.87% | 1.69% |
| 1968 | 14,365,596 | 11,080 | 2.92% | 0.84% |
| 1969 | 14,767,615 | 11,159 | 2.8% | 0.71% |
| 1970 | 15,172,775 | 11,368 | 2.74% | 1.87% |
| 1971 | 15,572,457 | 11,759 | 2.63% | 3.44% |
| 1972 | 15,975,069 | 12,194 | 2.59% | 3.7% |
| 1973 | 16,350,367 | 12,552 | 2.35% | 2.94% |
| 1974 | 16,673,121 | 12,687 | 1.97% | 1.08% |
| 1975 | 16,971,055 | 12,655 | 1.79% | -0.25% |
| 1976 | 17,243,450 | 12,598 | 1.61% | -0.45% |
| 1977 | 17,492,798 | 12,525 | 1.45% | -0.58% |
| 1978 | 17,735,995 | 12,440 | 1.39% | -0.68% |
| 1979 | 17,983,470 | 12,337 | 1.4% | -0.83% |
| 1980 | 18,236,786 | 12,271 | 1.41% | -0.53% |
| 1981 | 18,501,295 | 12,402 | 1.45% | 1.07% |
| 1982 | 18,776,357 | 12,694 | 1.49% | 2.35% |
| 1983 | 19,054,034 | 13,006 | 1.48% | 2.46% |
| 1984 | 19,335,043 | 13,337 | 1.47% | 2.54% |
| 1985 | 19,620,388 | 13,688 | 1.48% | 2.63% |
| 1986 | 19,910,855 | 14,024 | 1.48% | 2.45% |
| 1987 | 20,205,483 | 14,334 | 1.48% | 2.21% |
| 1988 | 20,503,161 | 14,645 | 1.47% | 2.17% |
| 1989 | 20,804,367 | 14,945 | 1.47% | 2.05% |
| 1990 | 21,112,137 | 15,259 | 1.48% | 2.1% |
| 1991 | 21,428,638 | 15,614 | 1.5% | 2.33% |
| 1992 | 21,750,911 | 15,989 | 1.5% | 2.4% |
| 1993 | 22,073,352 | 16,372 | 1.48% | 2.4% |
| 1994 | 22,393,975 | 16,770 | 1.45% | 2.43% |
| 1995 | 22,669,304 | 17,195 | 1.23% | 2.53% |
| 1996 | 22,895,746 | 17,654 | 1% | 2.67% |
| 1997 | 23,110,830 | 18,108 | 0.94% | 2.57% |
| 1998 | 23,311,564 | 18,524 | 0.87% | 2.3% |
| 1999 | 23,497,599 | 18,901 | 0.8% | 2.04% |
| 2000 | 23,665,910 | 19,178 | 0.72% | 1.47% |
| 2001 | 23,815,358 | 19,352 | 0.63% | 0.91% |
| 2002 | 23,943,973 | 19,503 | 0.54% | 0.78% |
| 2003 | 24,090,380 | 19,659 | 0.61% | 0.8% |
| 2004 | 24,254,943 | 19,820 | 0.68% | 0.82% |
| 2005 | 24,396,433 | 19,819 | 0.58% | -0.005% |
| 2006 | 24,524,507 | 19,593 | 0.52% | -1.14% |
| 2007 | 24,646,383 | 19,302 | 0.5% | -1.49% |
| 2008 | 24,764,618 | 19,009 | 0.48% | -1.52% |
| 2009 | 24,878,332 | 18,709 | 0.46% | -1.58% |
| 2010 | 24,987,258 | 18,396 | 0.44% | -1.67% |
| 2011 | 25,097,874 | 18,078 | 0.44% | -1.73% |
| 2012 | 25,211,728 | 17,765 | 0.45% | -1.73% |
| 2013 | 25,329,451 | 17,648 | 0.47% | -0.66% |
| 2014 | 25,451,262 | 17,715 | 0.48% | 0.38% |
| 2015 | 25,575,350 | 17,770 | 0.49% | 0.31% |
| 2016 | 25,698,326 | 17,797 | 0.48% | 0.15% |
| 2017 | 25,817,709 | 17,812 | 0.46% | 0.08% |
| 2018 | 25,931,147 | 17,814 | 0.44% | 0.01% |
| 2019 | 26,037,632 | 17,798 | 0.41% | -0.09% |
| 2020 | 26,136,312 | 17,792 | 0.38% | -0.03% |
| 2021 | 26,232,534 | 17,783 | 0.37% | -0.05% |
| 2022 | 26,328,845 | 17,759 | 0.37% | -0.13% |
| 2023 | 26,418,204 | 17,727 | 0.34% | -0.18% |
| 2024 | 26,498,823 | 17,695 | 0.31% | -0.18% |
| 2025 | 26,571,033 | 17,663 | 0.27% | -0.18% |
| 2026 | 26,633,682 | 17,618 | 0.24% | -0.25% |
| 2027 | 26,686,492 | 17,564 | 0.2% | -0.31% |
| 2028 | 26,729,261 | 17,504 | 0.16% | -0.34% |
| 2029 | 26,762,008 | 17,436 | 0.12% | -0.39% |
| 2030 | 26,784,894 | 17,376 | 0.09% | -0.34% |
| 2031 | 26,797,946 | 17,299 | 0.05% | -0.44% |
| 2032 | 26,801,071 | 17,228 | 0.01% | -0.41% |
| 2033 | 26,795,061 | 17,163 | -0.02% | -0.38% |
| 2034 | 26,780,481 | 17,092 | -0.05% | -0.41% |
| 2035 | 26,757,705 | 17,012 | -0.09% | -0.47% |
| 2036 | 26,727,309 | 16,940 | -0.11% | -0.43% |
| 2037 | 26,689,907 | 16,858 | -0.14% | -0.48% |
| 2038 | 26,646,323 | 16,779 | -0.16% | -0.47% |
| 2039 | 26,596,967 | 16,689 | -0.19% | -0.54% |
| 2040 | 26,542,417 | 16,604 | -0.21% | -0.51% |
| 2041 | 26,483,475 | 16,510 | -0.22% | -0.57% |
| 2042 | 26,420,812 | 16,403 | -0.24% | -0.65% |
| 2043 | 26,354,324 | 16,302 | -0.25% | -0.61% |
| 2044 | 26,284,000 | 16,202 | -0.27% | -0.62% |
| 2045 | 26,210,196 | 16,097 | -0.28% | -0.65% |
| 2046 | 26,132,922 | 15,977 | -0.29% | -0.74% |
| 2047 | 26,052,086 | 15,863 | -0.31% | -0.71% |
| 2048 | 25,967,581 | 15,749 | -0.32% | -0.72% |
| 2049 | 25,879,244 | 15,632 | -0.34% | -0.74% |
| 2050 | 25,787,120 | 15,515 | -0.36% | -0.75% |
From 2005 to 2015, the population of North Korea increased by 1,178,917 people (a 4.83% growth), while Palau lost 2,049 people (a 10.3% decline).
For the next 10 years, from 2015 to 2025, North Korea gained 1,046,007 (a 4.09% growth), while Palau's population decreased by -107 (a 0.6% decline).
North Korea was ranked 46th most populous country in 2005 and is 56th in 2025. Palau was ranked 194th in 2005 and still ranked 194th now.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 25 years (in 2050) North Korea's population will shrink by 3.13% to 25,787,120 people with a rank change from 56th to 66th. The population of Palau will decrease by 12.2% to 15,515 people and rank change from 194th to 195th.
Biggest cities by population
Compare countries by 7 more topics
Population differences between North Korea and Palau
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 73.9 years | 69.5 years |
| Average age | 38 years | 38.4 years |
| Median age | 37.3 years | 39.2 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 49.5:50.5 | 53.9:46.1 |
| Fertility rate | 1.78 births per woman | 1.91 births per woman |
| Population density | 570 ppl/mi² | 99.6 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
By topic
vs
comparisons:
Population comparisons