Skip to content
WorldPop

🇰🇵 North Korea vs 🇷🇺 Russia

Russia has 116.9M more people — 143,513,328 against 26,571,036. Below, 25 indicators both countries publish, side by side.

🇰🇵 North Korea
26,571,036
Asia · rank #56 · +0.27%
World Bank, 2025
🇷🇺 Russia
143,513,328
Europe · rank #9 · −0.11%
World Bank, 2025

Every Shared Indicator

25 indicators published for both countries. Ranks are out of the countries that report each indicator.

Values are each country's most recent published observation, so the two sides of a row may be from different years — the country pages show the year for each.
IndicatorNorth KoreaRussia
Population26,571,03656th of 240143,513,3289th of 240
Annual Growth Rate+0.27%167th of 240−0.11%198th of 240
Population Density/km²219/km²69th of 2409/km²221st of 240
Land Areakm²120,410 km²99th of 24016,376,870 km²1st of 240
Urban Population64.2%124th of 24075.3%86th of 240
GDP per Capita$1,800205th of 240$17,547100th of 240
Life Expectancyyears73.7 years138th of 24073.4 years141st of 240
Fertility Ratebirths per woman1.78 births per woman132nd of 2401.42 births per woman193rd of 240
Birth Rateper 1,00012.9 per 1,000111th of 2138.4 per 1,000176th of 213
Death Rateper 1,0009.9 per 1,00041st of 21312.4 per 1,00015th of 213
Infant Mortalityper 1,000 live births13.3 per 1,000 live births93rd of 1944.1 per 1,000 live births152nd of 194
Unemployment Rate3.5%127th of 1862.1%169th of 186
Physiciansper 1,0003.63 per 1,00040th of 2065.11 per 1,0008th of 206
Hospital Bedsper 1,00012.80 per 1,0005th of 1996.81 per 1,00012th of 199
Literacy Rate100.0%1st of 17599.9%4th of 175
School Enrollmentgross, secondary94.3% gross, secondary88th of 20792.5% gross, secondary95th of 207
Renewable Energyof final consumption14.7% of final consumption125th of 2113.5% of final consumption172nd of 211
Forest Coverageof land area49.6% of land area54th of 21149.8% of land area53rd of 211
Internet Penetration0.0%208th of 21194.4%35th of 211
Mobile Subscriptionsper 100 people24.1 per 100 people210th of 212186.1 per 100 people9th of 212
Maternal Mortalityper 100,000 live births67 per 100,000 live births79th of 1939 per 100,000 live births150th of 193
Protected Areasof land area2.4% of land area195th of 21111.5% of land area147th of 211
Median Ageyears36.5 years95th of 24040.3 years59th of 240
CO₂ Emissionstonnes per capita2.36 tonnes per capita122nd of 21212.30 tonnes per capita19th of 212
Obesity Rate12.1%153rd of 19821.2%117th of 198

Not Comparable

Published for one country but not the other, so no comparison is shown.

  • GDP Growth — +1.0% for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Inflation Rate — 8.7% for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Poverty Rate — 7.2% for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Gini Index — 33.0 for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Health Spending — 7.0% of GDP for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Education Spending — 4.2% of GDP for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Military Spending — 7.05% of GDP for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Mean Years of Schooling — 11.6 years for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Human Development Index — 0.832 for Russia, not published for North Korea
  • Happiness Index — 5.83/ 10 for Russia, not published for North Korea

Population, 1950–2100

Observed to 2024, then the UN medium-variant projection.

North KoreaRussia
020M40M60M80M100M120M140M19501971199320142036205720792100projected →
Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024. Values from 2025 onward are projections, not observations.
North Korea and Russia population, 1950 to 2100
SeriesYearValue
North Korea195011.1M
North Korea197517M
North Korea200023.7M
North Korea202526.6M
North Korea205025.8M
North Korea207522.8M
North Korea210019.5M
Russia1950103.4M
Russia1975134.1M
Russia2000146.7M
Russia2025144M
Russia2050136.1M
Russia2075128.6M
Russia2100126.4M

Reading This Comparison

Size is not the same as rate

Totals and per-capita measures answer different questions. A country can have a far larger economy and a far lower GDP per capita at the same time — both facts are in the table.

Mind the vintages

Each value is the latest available for that country, which is not always the same year on both sides. For indicators that move slowly this rarely matters; for inflation or GDP growth it can.

More Comparisons

All comparisons →North Korea profile →Russia profile →