North Korea runs one of the most bizarre economies on the planet. Despite being one of only a handful of nations with nuclear weapons, its 2024 gross domestic product (GDP) was a paltry $26.6 billion (€22.9 billion).
This is about 70 times smaller than South Korea's $1.86 trillion economy and about a fifth of the annual revenue of the world's top-traded company, NVIDIA.
Thanks to a centrally planned economy that prioritizes domestic production, North Korea is nowhere near as reliant on trade as your average free-market economy, partly due to United Nations sanctions, introduced in 2017 over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program.
The North's total imports and exports account for just a small fraction of GDP, versus the South, where international trade makes up around 80% of the economy, according to the World Bank.North Korea continues to test missiles in defiance of sanctions and UN resolutionsImage: AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS
How important is China in North Korea's economy?
