The historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12 is expected to convince North Korea to open up this mysterious world economy.
A big question mark
North Korea has stopped releasing detailed statistics since the 60s. Over the past four decades, the country's annual national budget report has only revealed a few figures on revenue and expenditure.
The scarcity of information leaves economists with no choice but to combine what is published with estimates of industrial and agricultural output based on satellite photos, thermal photos and intelligence systems.
The Central Bank of Korea is considered the most reliable source of data on the country. They used data provided by the Government, in collaboration with intelligence agencies to provide estimates. Lee Seog-Ki, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Commerce and Industry Economics, said the information is diverse, from the water flow through the dam, the smoke released from the chimneys to the rice fields.
Over the past 26 years, the South Korean Central Bank has always estimated the North Korean economy to be 1.8 times larger than the figure given by the United Nations. These agencies all admit that the big difference is due to too much uncertain data.
The trade data is also less reliable than it is, even though trade partners with North Korea have to announce import-export turnover. There are many reasons for this, such as governments sometimes confusing the two Koreas when reporting, or they want to hide them to avoid violating international sanctions.
There have been changes
When mentioning North Korea, no one thinks that there are pizza shops, cafes or bars here. However, this mysterious country has undergone major changes.
The number of mobile phone users in North Korea increased by 11% in 2016, the highest ever. Currently, 14 out of 100 people use a phone.
Food output increased from 4.5 million tons to 4.8 million tons. Meanwhile, coal and iron ore mining output increased by 13% and 7%, respectively, to 10 times higher than Korea.
However, GDP per capita here is only 4.5% compared to neighboring countries. Total trade turnover is also less than 1% of Korea.
The above figures are provided by Statistics Korea - the Korean statistics agency based on information from local and international organizations. Some are taken from indirect estimates, due to lack of information.
