Economic growth in North Korea last year picked up from a 3.1% rise in gross domestic product in 2023 and a 0.2% fall in 2022, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said
The 2024 figure marked the highest growth rate since 2016, when the economy expanded 3.9%.
“It is mainly due to significant increases in manufacturing, construction and mining industries, which were affected by strengthening of national policy projects domestically, and expansion of economic cooperation between North Korea and Russia externally,” a BOK official told a briefing.
In particular, the heavy chemical sector soared 10.7%, the highest rate since records began, helped by expanded production of metal products for weapons exported to Russia, the official said.
The data showed the mining sector also grew 8.8%, the biggest gain since 1999.
The BOK’s estimates are considered among the most reliable indicators of economic activity in the North, which does not publish official data.
The BOK has been publishing its estimates of the North Korean economy since 1991, based on information from various sources, including intelligence and foreign trade agencies, as well as data from the South’s unification ministry.
Artillery shells by the million
North Korea ready to ‘unconditionally support’ Russia’s actions in Ukraine, president says
North Korea and Russia have become closer militarily and economically, and Pyongyang has sent an unprecedented number of armaments and troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.
North Korea already supplies about 40% of the Russian army’s artillery ammunition, with production operating “around the clock,” according to Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR).
A Reuters investigation published in April revealed that millions of North Korean artillery shells had reached the front lines, delivered via massive sea and rail shipments.
Meanwhile, North Korean soldiers played a key role in Moscow’s March 2025 counteroffensive in the western Kursk region of Russia, to push back Ukrainian troops who had crossed into the area in the first foreign incursion into Russian territory since World War II.
South Korean lawmakers said in April, citing the country’s intelligence agency, that about 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine out of a total deployment of 15,000.
According to reports, Pyongyang is also mulling another troop deployment.
Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s dictator, will visit China, Pyongyang’s major ally and economic lifeline, to attend a military parade in what is likely to be the biggest multilateral diplomatic event that the reclusive state’s leader has attended.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will also be at “Victory Day” parade on September 3.
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