What is population, total in North Korea?

Population, total in North Korea was 26.57 million in 2025, according to World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN).

What is the highest population, total recorded in North Korea?

The highest recorded value was 26.57 million in 2025.

What is the lowest population, total recorded in North Korea?

The lowest recorded value was 11.72 million in 1960.

How does North Korea rank for population, total?

North Korea ranks 56th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.

Is population, total rising or falling in North Korea?

Over the last ten years it is up 3.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this North Korea data come from?

The figures come from World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Population, total. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Population, total in North Korea

Name: Population, total in North Korea
Creator: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN)
License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)

North Korea: Population, total was 26.57 million in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

26.57 million

Change on year

up 0.3%

World rank

56th

of 215 countries

All-time high

26.57 million

in 2025

All-time low

11.72 million

in 1960

Years of data

1960–2025

Population, total in North Korea, 1960–2025

Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN).

Analysis

In 2025, population, total in North Korea stood at 26.57 million. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 3.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, population, total in North Korea peaked at 26.57 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 11.72 million, in 1960.

North Korea ranks 56th of 215 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	13.13 million	11.72 million	14.77 million	10
1970s	16.72 million	15.17 million	17.98 million	10
1980s	19.49 million	18.24 million	20.80 million	10
1990s	22.42 million	21.11 million	23.50 million	10
2000s	24.30 million	23.67 million	24.88 million	10
2010s	25.51 million	24.99 million	26.04 million	10
2020s	26.36 million	26.14 million	26.57 million	6

Countries ranked near North Korea

53 Venezuela 28.52 million compare
54 Niger 27.92 million compare
55 Australia 27.61 million compare
57 Syria 25.62 million compare
58 Mali 25.20 million compare
59 Burkina Faso 24.07 million compare

See the full ranking of 264 places →

More climate change data for North Korea

Share of global CO₂ emissions and population 0.2% (2100)
Population growth 0.3% (2025)
Urban population growth 0.8% (2025)
Urban population 17.06 million (2025)
Urban population 64.2% (2025)
CO₂ emissions per capita vs. GDP per capita 2.36 tonnes per person (2024)
Cumulative CO₂ emissions 5.49 billion tonnes (2024)
CO₂ emissions per capita 2.36 tonnes per person (2024)
CO₂ emissions per capita vs. share of electricity generation from renewables 2.36 tonnes per person (2024)
Share of global CO₂ emissions vs. share of population 0.2% (2024)

All data for North Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is population, total in North Korea?: Population, total in North Korea was 26.57 million in 2025, according to World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN).
What is the highest population, total recorded in North Korea?: The highest recorded value was 26.57 million in 2025.
What is the lowest population, total recorded in North Korea?: The lowest recorded value was 11.72 million in 1960.
How does North Korea rank for population, total?: North Korea ranks 56th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
Is population, total rising or falling in North Korea?: Over the last ten years it is up 3.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this North Korea data come from?: The figures come from World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Population, total. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

About this data

Indicator: Population, total
Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 264 places, 17,394 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.