Korea North Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 30.4 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 28.28 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 18.68 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

temperate, with rainfall concentrated in summer; long, bitter winters

Land use

agricultural land: 21.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 19.5% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.9% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 0.4% (2018 est.)

forest: 46% (2018 est.)

other: 32.2% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 63.2% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.85% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access: due to low food consumption levels, poor dietary diversity, and economic downturn - a large portion of the population suffers from low levels of food consumption and very poor dietary diversity; the economic constraints, particularly resulting from the global impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic, have increased the population’s vulnerability to food insecurity; the food gap is estimated at about 860,000 mt, equivalent to approximately 2-3 months of food use, if this gap is not adequately covered through commercial imports and/or food aid, households could experience a harsh lean period (2022)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 902.8 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 1.145 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 6.61 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

77.15 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Korea North on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Korea North 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Korea North 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.