The Bank of Korea in its assessment of the North Korean economy in 2007 released Wednesday said actual GDP in the North contracted by 2.3 percent from the previous year. In 2006, the North Korean economy shrank 1.1 percent. The BOK estimates that grain production fell 9.4 percent from a year earlier due to floods and bad weather. Production of rice declined by 19.4 percent and of corn 9.3 percent.
North Korea's gross national income (GNI), which measures purchasing power, was W24.83 trillion (US$1=W1,029), 1/36 of South Korea's W902.54 trillion. North Korea's GNI per capita was W1.07 million, representing only 1/17 of South Korea's W18.62 million. South Korea exported 404 times more than North Korea, and earned 177 times more from exports than the North in 2007. The BOK said North Korea was ranked 177th out of 208 countries in 2006 with per capita GNI of $1,440, which placed it on a par with Kenya and Nigeria.
'North Korea seems to have had difficulties in all areas of its economy last year as the food shortage intensified,' the BOK said.