Demographics of North Korea

Source	UN (World Population Prospects 2024)
Date	07 Apr 2026

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As of 2026, the population of North Korea is projected at 26.63 million, compared to 26.57 million in 2025. It ranks 56th in the world by population and 21st in Asia, accounting for 0.32% of the global population and 0.55% of Asia's population. The population growth rate for 2026 is projected at 0.22%, placing North Korea 160th among 237 countries and dependent territories.

There are 13.19 million males and 13.44 million females in North Korea. The male population accounts for 49.54%, compared to 50.46% for females. North Korea has 244k more females than males. The sex ratio in 2026 is projected at 98.18 males per 100 females. North Korea ranks 115th globally in terms of the female-to-male ratio.

Population
Growth
Gender

North Korea population
Year	Population			Growth (%)	M per 100 F
Year	Male	Female	Total	Growth (%)	M per 100 F
1950	5,112,310	6,004,426	11,116,736	-5.00	85.142
1955	4,605,977	5,797,347	10,403,325	1.80	79.450
1960	5,302,173	6,420,779	11,722,953	2.37	82.578
1965	6,088,966	7,130,403	13,219,369	2.54	85.394
1970	7,110,842	8,061,932	15,172,775	2.68	88.203
1975	8,053,772	8,917,283	16,971,055	1.70	90.316
1980	8,722,565	9,514,221	18,236,786	1.40	91.679
1985	9,450,682	10,169,706	19,620,388	1.47	92.930
1990	10,233,335	10,878,801	21,112,137	1.48	94.067
1995	11,037,982	11,631,322	22,669,304	1.02	94.899
2000	11,549,047	12,116,863	23,665,910	0.67	95.314
2005	11,916,431	12,480,003	24,396,433	0.53	95.484
2010	12,219,535	12,767,724	24,987,258	0.44	95.706
2015	12,562,727	13,012,623	25,575,350	0.48	96.543
2020	12,885,558	13,250,754	26,136,312	0.36	97.244
2021	12,942,570	13,289,963	26,232,534	0.37	97.386
2022	13,002,441	13,326,404	26,328,845	0.36	97.569
2023	13,058,006	13,360,198	26,418,204	0.32	97.738
2024	13,108,717	13,390,106	26,498,823	0.29	97.899
2025	13,154,539	13,416,497	26,571,036	0.25	98.047
2026	13,194,709	13,438,982	26,633,691	0.22	98.182

Demographics Indicators
Year	Life expectancy	Median age	Fertility rate
1950	14.201	16.299	4.994
1955	51.766	17.293	3.674
1960	55.814	18.908	3.568
1965	58.785	20.208	3.556
1970	62.049	20.443	3.848
1975	64.831	19.699	3.047
1980	67.208	21.353	2.841
1985	69.231	23.126	2.646
1990	70.484	24.890	2.388
1995	60.766	26.877	2.146
2000	60.911	29.072	1.941
2005	69.168	31.351	1.872
2010	70.246	33.046	1.890
2015	72.825	34.176	1.863
2020	72.783	35.347	1.821
2021	73.437	35.570	1.806
2022	73.641	35.805	1.797
2023	73.642	36.048	1.780
2024	73.743	36.294	1.784
2025	73.859	36.545	1.768
2026	73.979	36.804	1.754

Life expectancy
Median age
Fertility rate

North Korea death and birth rate
Year	Total		Crude (per 1000)
Year	Death	Birth	Crude death	Crude birth
1950	816,320	451,526	73.432	40.617
1955	131,238	353,878	12.615	34.016
1960	130,735	408,457	11.152	34.842
1965	132,324	467,906	10.010	35.396
1970	129,118	535,250	8.510	35.277
1975	117,408	406,366	6.918	23.945
1980	111,334	366,545	6.105	20.099
1985	112,073	399,784	5.712	20.376
1990	119,292	431,740	5.650	20.450
1995	227,794	461,184	10.049	20.344
2000	253,064	414,658	10.693	17.521
2005	206,414	339,174	8.461	13.903
2010	219,745	332,183	8.794	13.294
2015	215,942	343,289	8.443	13.423
2020	254,074	349,983	9.721	13.391
2021	248,321	348,026	9.466	13.267
2022	249,694	346,185	9.484	13.149
2023	255,826	342,038	9.684	12.947
2024	261,229	340,728	9.858	12.858
2025	264,688	334,881	9.962	12.603
2026	267,788	328,497	10.054	12.334

Total
Crude

Urban and rural population of North Korea
Year	Population		Urban (%)
Year	Urban	Rural	Urban (%)
1950	440,865	10,675,871	3.966
1955	2,544,551	7,858,773	24.459
1960	4,759,519	6,963,434	40.600
1965	6,279,413	6,939,955	47.502
1970	8,223,644	6,949,131	54.200
1975	9,622,588	7,348,467	56.700
1980	10,376,732	7,860,054	56.900
1985	11,286,761	8,333,627	57.526
1990	12,336,999	8,775,138	58.436
1995	13,391,065	9,278,239	59.071
2000	14,062,199	9,603,711	59.420
2005	14,577,026	9,819,407	59.751
2010	15,069,068	9,918,190	60.307
2015	15,684,021	9,891,329	61.325
2020	16,370,613	9,765,699	62.636
2021	16,507,231	9,725,303	62.927
2022	16,647,054	9,681,791	63.227
2023	16,785,656	9,632,548	63.538
2024	16,921,877	9,576,946	63.859
2025	17,055,891	9,515,145	64.190
2026	17,186,914	9,446,777	64.531

Population
Urbanization

North Korea population by Age Group (2026)
Age group	Male	Female	Total		M per 100 F
Age group	Male	Female	Persons	Share (%)	M per 100 F
00-04	861,678	814,501	1,676,178	6.29	105.792
05-09	876,006	830,049	1,706,056	6.41	105.537
10-14	845,898	803,716	1,649,614	6.19	105.248
15-19	830,105	791,093	1,621,198	6.09	104.931
20-24	869,346	832,833	1,702,179	6.39	104.384
25-29	968,441	931,774	1,900,215	7.13	103.935
30-34	1,008,562	975,856	1,984,419	7.45	103.352
35-39	956,927	932,566	1,889,493	7.09	102.612
40-44	889,427	872,482	1,761,909	6.62	101.942
45-49	801,067	792,977	1,594,044	5.99	101.020
50-54	956,194	962,142	1,918,336	7.20	99.382
55-59	1,045,876	1,075,056	2,120,932	7.96	97.286
60-64	797,957	846,189	1,644,147	6.17	94.300
65-69	633,459	703,861	1,337,321	5.02	89.998
70-74	358,303	427,147	785,449	2.95	83.883
75-79	266,089	380,281	646,370	2.43	69.972
80-84	158,076	279,998	438,074	1.64	56.456
85-89	59,493	142,206	201,699	0.76	41.836
90-94	10,881	38,370	49,252	0.18	28.358
95-99	887	5,467	6,354	0.02	16.225
100+	38	413	451	0.00	9.201
Total	13,194,710	13,438,977	26,633,690		98.182

Population pyramid
Gender ratio