ll manufactured goods, and heavy and
military industries have long been developed at the expense of light
and consumer industries. Open-air markets since 1995 have gained
increasing importance in the distribution of food and consumer goods
but private production remains extremely limited. Total economic
output has fallen steadily since 1991--perhaps by as much as
one-half--when the country's economic ties to the Soviet Union and
Eastern Bloc collapsed. The slide has also been fueled by serious
energy shortages, aging industrial facilities, and a lack of
maintenance and new investment. The leadership has tried to maintain
a high level of military spending but the armed forces have
nonetheless been affected by the general economic decline. Although
North Korea has long depended on imports to meet food needs, serious
fertilizer shortages in recent years have combined with structural
constraints--such as a shortage of arable land and a short growing
season--to reduce staple grain output to more than 1 million tons
below what the country needs to meet even minimal demand. Widespread
famine and disease have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of
North Koreans in 1994-98. The US, China, the international
community, and nongovernmental organizations have sent aid but the
problems remain extremely serious.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$21.8 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: -5% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$1,000 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 25%
industry: 60%
services: 15% (1995 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Labor force: 9.615 million

Labor force--by occupation: agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $19.3 billion
expenditures: $19.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1992 est.)

Industries: military products; machine building, electric power,
chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, magnesite, graphite, copper,
zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food
processing

Industrial production growth rate: -7% to -9% (1992 est.)

Electricity--production: 34 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 35.29%
hydro: 64.71%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (199