In his New Year's speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced the country would focus on rebuilding its economy. COVID-19 restrictions have worsened food shortages in the nation and, while ordinary North Koreans face fears of another famine, Kim is suspected of focusing on developing more missiles to show off the country's military might. Most outsiders know very little about what really goes on inside the super-secretive pariah state. From black market dealings to state-sanctioned haircuts, read on for some surprising and shocking facts about everyday life in North Korea. All dollar values in US dollars.
North Korea is currently the sixth most corrupt country on the planet, according to its ranking on the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International. This is an improvement from its score in 2016, when it was second only to war-ravaged Somalia, but still shows the nation has a long way to go before it can be considered 'clean'.
Although North Korea's total GDP is relatively healthy at an estimated $19 billion (£13.9bn), the most recent data from the CIA suggests the country's GDP per capita is just $1,700 (£1.25k). That's one of the lowest in the world and the lowest outside of Africa. In fact, the majority of North Koreans live in poverty. According to the World Bank, a staggering 59% of the population works in agriculture, a sector where wages can be as low as $1-$2 (75p-£1.20) a month.
The latest data from Statista suggest that the North Korean government spends around 24% of its GDP on defence, the largest proportion of any country. That's more than double the percentage spent by Oman, which devotes the second highest percentage in the world at 10.9%.
The year 2022 is still an awfully long way off in North Korea. The regime ditched the Gregorian calendar in 1997 and replaced it with the Juche calendar, which is based on Kim Il-sung's date of birth of 5 April 1912. In North Korea it's currently year 111.
North Korean society is based on a strict class system known as 'songbun', which classifies every citizen from birth according to the status of their father. There are five key social statuses: 'special', 'nucleus', 'basic', 'complex', and 'hostile'. These are divided into around 50 sub-classifications, with a citizen's status determining the type of job they will be allocated and where they can live as an adult.
Only those lucky enough to enjoy 'special' or 'nucleus' status are allowed to live in the capital city of Pyongyang, which has roughly 10% of the country's population. The rest are effectively confined to the countryside, where conditions can be tough and provisions scarce.
Under North Korean law, anyone who sells, buys or rents a house can be sentenced to years of hard labour. People living in the same districts are allowed to swap homes. However, illegal property sales are common among the elite who can often bribe their way out of trouble should they get caught. Pictured are residents in the North Hwanghae province being led to new accommodation by members of the military, after their homes were damaged by flooding in the summer of 2020.
Dubbed 'Pyonghattan', the Mansudae District in Pyongyang is a hotspot for upscale apartments in soaring high-rises, offering luxuries such as 24-hour electricity and working lifts. The apartments are traded illegally among the elite for prices as much as $250,000 (£184k).
Mansudae may feature its fair share of gleaming towers but Pyongyang's most prominent building, the 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel (pictured), is still a work in progress. Construction began way back in 1987 and has been halted several times due to lack of funds. In 2018, an LED display screen was fitted to the exterior for showing progranda films, making this colossal megaproject – which was supposed to house 3,000 hotel rooms and seven restaurants – not much more than a big TV. It reportedly cost around $750 million (£553m) to build, approximately 2% of North Korea's GDP at the time.
People with acceptable 'songbun' have access to Pyongyang's growing number of high-end black market stores, which sell everything from imported electricals to luxury foods. For the most part these stores are tolerated by the regime. According to a report by Reuters in 2015, black market goods have become so ubiquitous that the government must "reflect market realities" when driving economic reform or risk "losing its grip on power."
North Korea's privileged classes have constant access to fine food and get to dine out at Pyongyang top eateries. Meanwhile the rest of the population get by on extremely meagre rations. In 2019, the government cut daily food rations to just 10 ounces (300g) per person a day, while an investigation by the UN World Food Programme found that poorer families eat protein just a few times a year.
As well as its enormous statues of the three Kims, the North Korean regime likes to supersize its stadia. Encompassing 51 acres, Pyongyang's Rungrado 1st of May Stadium was the largest in the world by seating capacity when it opened in 1989. Recent renovation work is expected to have reduced the stadium's actual capacity from its official figure of 150,000 seats.
Smartphone use has increased among the North Korean elite, with the nation recording around six million mobile phone subscribers in 2020. Calls and texts are of course strictly monitored and international calls are well and truly blocked.
To get around the international call block, many North Koreans use handsets and SIM cards smuggled in from China. Costing around $500 (£370) in bribes to border guards, these cards can pick up Chinese mobile networks – but the risks are high. Possession of these devices is illegal and could land the user several years of hard labour in a prison camp. Pictured is a North Korean border guard watching a boat from the Chinese town of Dandong being unloaded in Sinuiju.
North Korea's 'internet' is more like a basic company intranet with just 5,500 websites, according to reports. All foreign sites are banned. Computers are only available to select elite citizens and even their activity is closely monitored. State-sanctioned websites include Air Koryo, the country's airline. Users can also access Naenara, which is a propaganda web portal that became the nation's very first website when it was launched in 1996.
North Korea's internet has been targeted by a "lone American hacker" known as P4x. The hacker has succeeded in overwhelming the system by flooding it with artificial traffic in revenge for a cyberattack he suffered in 2021, believed to have been carried out by North Korean spies.
The country's Central Bank, Koryo Bank, issues a limited number of payment cards. These include the Narae, which is used by a minority of the elite for foreign currency transactions, and one very basic credit card that's only accepted in select Pyongyang department stores. The vast majority of people use cash, with many stores happy to accept US dollars.
Despite the fact that most North Koreans rely on cash, ATMs are few and far between. In fact, two of the only ATMs in the country can be found at Sunan International airport in Pyongyang (pictured), but the machines are principally designed to serve tourists and wealthy Chinese businesspeople. According to a 2017 report by CBC News, the ATMs don't even dispense North Korean currency.
Fashion styles tend to be conformist in North Korea, especially in Pyongyang. However, people living in the city of Chongjin have had access to trendier items of clothing that are smuggled in by boat from Japan. The local elite in Chongjin have even been known to sport skinny jeans. All of that changed in 2021 when Kim Jong-un cracked down on symbols of a "capitalist lifestyle". According to reports, the leader has outlawed skinny jeans, nose and lip piercings, and branded T-shirts.
It's not just your clothing that will have the fashion police knocking at your door in North Korea. Anything that deviates from the 28 state-sanctioned hairstyles is a no-go. There have been mixed reports about the exact hairstyle rules for men, with some Western media outlets reporting that they're obliged to copy Kim Jong-un's iconic undercut, while others have claimed that it's strictly illegal to do so. Women have slightly more choice, with up to 18 haircuts to pick from. However, married women must keep their hair short.
Due to incredibly low wages throughout the country, only the upper echelons of society can afford to own a car. Many Pyongyang residents cycle as their main means of transport, so it's no wonder that imported Chinese battery-powered bikes are the latest must-have.
Outside of the capital city, North Korea's road network is mostly made up of dusty dirt tacks. According to the CIA World Factbook, out of a total of 15,880 miles (25,554km) of roads, only 450 miles (724km) are properly asphalted.
As many as 3.5 million North Koreans are estimated to have died during the major famine that hit the country in the 1990s. Chronic hunger is still a fact of life with estimates suggesting 40% of children and most pregnant woman are malnourished. In his New Year speech, Kim Jong-un described the ongoing food shortages in North Korea as a "great life-or-death struggle" and said his main goal for 2022 was economic development. A recent propaganda film has shown the leader looking remarkably slim and claimed he's "completely withered away" with worry for his people.
Research from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul shows that years of malnutrition have had an impact on the height of the average North Korean, who is 1.2-3.1 inches (3-8cm) shorter than the typical South Korean. The World Food Programme has said that "one in every three children remains chronically malnourished" or too short for their age.
North Korea is actually one of the world's biggest fruit producers, with statistics showing the country produces 779,490 metric tonnes of apples a year. However, the dictatorship has historically chosen to export most of the produce rather than feed its hungry residents. In 2019, North Korea exported $2.19 million (£1.6m) worth of vegetable products and $1.7 million (£1.25m) of other food goods, according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).
Hate your job? Spare a thought for the North Korean workforce. Most citizens are assigned a role when they leave high school that they are stuck with for life, unless they can scrape together money to bribe an official. The majority of the population is condemned to a life of farming, while teaching, factory work and hairdressing are common professions in the cities.
The vast majority of North Koreans take home an absolute pittance in wages. Even if they can moonlight in their spare time they can only expect to earn an extra $12 (£8.85) a month or so. According to Salary Explorer, the average salary bracket starts at 49,100 KPW a month, the equivalent of around $55 (£40). However, as North Korea doesn't share financial information and most people get paid in cash, this figure is likely to be inaccurate. As mentioned earlier, farmers reportedly earn just $1-$2 (75p-£1.20) on a monthly basis.
Human Rights Watch and the South Korean government estimate that between 150,000 and 200,000 North Koreans live in prison camps where conditions are extremely harsh, especially for those convicted of political dissent. Pictured is a North Korean gulag (labour camp) in Siberia in 2001.
Under North Korea's 'three generations of punishment' law, the entire extended family of a person who has perpetrated a crime can be imprisoned – kids, aunts, cousins, the lot – along with the subsequent two generations.
Amnesty International has reported that as many as 40% of prison camp detainees die from malnutrition while engaged in hard labour. The work is tortuous and can range from back-breaking mining and logging to being forced to dig your own grave.
From coal to cybercrime, discover how North Korea makes money