Digital 2022: North Korea
The internet – at least as the rest of the world knows it – remains unavailable to everyday citizens in North Korea, so we’re only able to offer a handful of data points relating to digital adoption and use in the country in 2022.
However, we can offer a few essential headlines for mobile connectivity in North Korea this year, as well as an overview of the country’s population.
North Korea’s population in 2022
North Korea’s total population was 25.9 million in January 2022.
Data show that North Korea’s population increased by 106,000 (+0.4 percent) between 2021 and 2022.
51.1 percent of North Korea’s population is female, while 48.9 percent of the population is male.
At the start of 2022, 63.0 percent of North Korea’s population lived in urban centres, while 37.0 percent lived in rural areas.
Note: gender data are currently only available for “female” and “male”.
North Korea’s population by age
The median age of the population in North Korea is 35.8.
For additional context, here’s a look at how the population in North Korea breaks down by age group:
6.7 percent of North Korea’s population is between the ages of 0 and 4.
10.4 percent of North Korea’s population is between the ages of 5 and 12.
6.6 percent of North Korea’s population is between the ages of 13 and 17.
10.3 percent of North Korea’s population is between the ages of 18 and 24.
14.9 percent of North Korea’s population is between the ages of 25 and 34.
13.1 percent of North Korea’s population is between the ages of 35 and 44.
15.9 percent of North Korea’s population is between the ages of 45 and 54.
12.1 percent of North Korea’s population is between the ages of 55 and 64.
10.1 percent of North Korea’s population is aged 65 and above.
Note: percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
Internet use in North Korea in 2022
North Korea has its own “intranet”, but the internet (at least as the rest of the world knows it) remains unavailable to most people in the country.
Our analysis of the available data suggests that fewer than 1,000 people in the country are able to access international websites, and it seems likely that a sizeable proportion of this small group will be made up of foreign expatriates and the country’s political elite.
Either way, more than 99.9 percent of the country's population remained offline at the start of 2022.
For the latest insights into internet adoption and use around the world, follow our regular Global Statshot reports.
Mobile connections in North Korea in 2022
Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 5.24 million cellular mobile connections in North Korea at the start of 2022.
However, note that many people around the world make use of more than one mobile connection – for example, they might have one connection for personal use, and another one for work – so these figures may not represent unique individuals.
For context, GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in North Korea were equivalent to 20.2 percent of the total population in January 2022.
The number of mobile connections in North Korea increased by 255,000 (+5.1 percent) between 2021 and 2022.
Additional resources
Sadly that's all the data we have for North Korea in 2022, but here are some suggestions for further reading:
Read our complete Digital 2022 Global Overview Report to get a comprehensive overview of the “state of digital” around the world in 2022.
Click here to see all of the Global Digital Reports we’ve published on North Korea over the past decade.
Explore all of our reports on countries in Eastern Asia by clicking here.
Visit our complete online reports library to find all of the (free!) reports in the Global Digital Reports series.
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