Demographic profile
North Korea is the 56th most populous of the 237 countries and territories tracked on this site, home to about 0.31% of everyone alive. Within Eastern Asia, it ranks 4 of 8.
Each day brings roughly 522 births and 557 deaths — a net decline of about 12,783 people a year. At -0.05% annually. Real trajectories bend as fertility, mortality and migration shift, which is why the chart below shows both history and projection.
Among its first-level divisions, the largest by our modelled allocation is North Pyongan, holding an estimated 26.7% of the national population. The full breakdown of all 13 states and regions is in the table below. Regional figures outside Sudan are modelled estimates built on real region names, and are flagged as such.
Literacy stands near 96.0% and adult smoking prevalence around 24.0%, with life expectancy at about 70.7 years. Baselines come from UN World Population Prospects, the World Bank, WHO surveys, WorldPop and HDX; the counters project them forward in real time — the method, and every caveat, is documented on our data sources page.
Quick answers
What is the population of North Korea in 2026? Approximately 25,446,131 people (live projection; the counter above updates every second).
How fast is North Korea shrinking? About -0.05% per year — roughly 522 births and 557 deaths every day.
What share of the world lives in North Korea? Around 0.31% — ranked 56 worldwide by population.