Digital 2024: 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.
Population of North Korea in 2024
The population of North Korea stood at 26.20 million in January 2024.
Data shows that North Korea’s population increased by 88 thousand (+0.3 percent) between early 2023 and the start of 2024.
50.4 percent of North Korea’s population is female, while 49.6 percent of the population is male.
At the start of 2024, 63.4 percent of North Korea’s population lived in urban centres, while 36.6 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 North Korea’s population is 36.3.
Here’s how North Korea’s total population breaks down by age group:
6.4 percent is between the ages of 0 and 4.
10.0 percent is between the ages of 5 and 12.
6.2 percent is between the ages of 13 and 17.
9.4 percent is between the ages of 18 and 24.
14.8 percent is between the ages of 25 and 34.
13.3 percent is between the ages of 35 and 44.
14.4 percent is between the ages of 45 and 54.
13.1 percent is between the ages of 55 and 64.
12.4 percent is aged 65 and above.
Note: percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
Internet use in North Korea in 2024
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 10,000 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 2024.
For the latest insights into internet adoption and use around the world, follow our regular Global Statshot reports.
Mobile connections in North Korea in 2024
Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 7.51 million cellular mobile connections in North Korea at the start of 2024.
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 it’s not unusual for mobile connection figures to significantly exceed figures for total population.
GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in North Korea were equivalent to 28.7 percent of the total population in January 2024.
The number of mobile connections in North Korea increased by 206 thousand (+2.8 percent) between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024.
Additional resources
Just before we get to the full report, here are some suggestions for further reading, which will provide additional context for our full set of Digital 2024 numbers for North Korea:
Read our complete Digital 2024 Global Overview Report to get a comprehensive overview of the “state of digital” around the world in 2024.
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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