Size
Estimating gross national product in North Korea is a difficult task because of dearth of economic data, the national income accounting based on the Marxist definition of production, and the problem of choosing an appropriate rate of exchange for the North Korean Won, the nonconvertible North Korean currency. The South Korean government's estimate placed North Korea's GNP in 1991 at US$22.9 billion, or US$1,038 per capita. In contrast, South Korea posted US$237.9 billion of GNP and a per capita income of US$5,569 in 1991. North Korea's GNP in 1991 showed a 5.2% decline from 1989, and preliminary indications were that the decline would continue. South Korea's GNP, by contrast, expanded by 9.3% and 8.4%, respectively, in 1990 and 1991.
It is estimated that North Korea's GNP nearly halved between 1990 and 1999.
In 2012, the Bank of Korea estimated that the real GDP of North Korea in 2011 was 24,793 billion South Korean Won (US$21.8 billion).
Read more about this topic: Economy Of North Korea
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