North Korea’s markets — known as jangmadang (장마당) — emerged from the famine of the 1990s and have since become the backbone of the country’s informal economy. Daily NK tracks grain and rice prices, foreign currency exchange rates, government crackdowns on market activity, the rise of the donju merchant class, and the broader marketization of North Korean society. Our network of in-country sources provides some of the most detailed and timely reporting on North Korea’s markets available in English.
Tag: markets
North Korea Market Prices Update: January 27, 2020
All prices are in KPW and current as of January 27, 2020.
Data: Daily NK
Sinuiju sees a commodity price and exchange rate spike
Commodity prices and exchange rates in Sinuiju, a major hub for Sino-North Korean trade in North Korea's North Pyongyan Province, have recently spiked following...
Superstition makes getting loans difficult in January, sources
Many North Koreans in of business loans are unable to get them due to the country’s economic downturn and a custom of avoiding loans...
N. Korean factories still suffering from low production
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un emphasized increased productivity and a “frontal breakthrough” for the economy during the year-end plenary meeting of the Central...
S. Pyongan Province slaps fines on “illegal” small businesses
North Korean authorities in South Pyongan Province have recently begun levying fines on small businesses that they claim have not registered with the government,...
North Korea Market Prices Update: January 17, 2020
All prices are in KPW and current as of January 17, 2019.
Data: Daily NK
North Korea Market Prices Update: December 22, 2019
All prices are in KPW and current as of December 22, 2019.
Data: Daily NK
Probing the effects of North Korea’s skyrocketing market fees
A recent hike in taxes at certain general markets in North Korea has brought grief to some North Koreans. According to sources in South...
North Korea Market Prices Update: December 6, 2019
All prices are in KPW and current as of December 6, 2019.
Data: Daily NK
Low yield this year in N. Korea’s main grain-producing region
The yield from this year’s rice grain harvest in South Pyongan Province, North Korea’s main grain-producing region, turned out lower than in the previous...
