{"id":40422,"date":"2019-04-25T17:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T08:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=40422"},"modified":"2020-01-17T09:21:31","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T00:21:31","slug":"pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\/","title":{"rendered":"Pyongyang\u2019s economy faces possible stagnation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tongil<\/a>
Tongil Market in Pyongyang. Image: Daily NK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

North Korean sources are reporting that there has been a drastic reduction in the number of merchants and items available for purchase in Pyongyang, amid reports that the country\u2019s overall economy is facing increasing problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cMerchants are have a difficult time even in some Pyongyang markets,\u201d said a Pyongyang-based source on April 17. \u201cThey can\u2019t sell anything, so they increasingly can\u2019t pay their market fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merchants are required to pay 1,000 to 3,000 KPW<\/a> in fees each day, but the source added that even earning this amount of money is hard for them. She\u00a0pointed to the \u201cRed Street 2-dong Market\u201d in Pyongyang\u2019s Potonggang District as an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness is bad, so many stalls are increasingly empty,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s fewer than 1,000 stalls actually doing business now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) found in 2016 that there were 2,178 stalls in that same market. The source\u2019s report suggests that only half of the stalls are continuing to do business.<\/p>\n

Changes in Pyongyang\u2019s markets are also evident in the goods being offered for sale. Most of what\u2019s available for purchase is limited to food and beverages, standing in stark contrast to the range of products available in the past which included clothes, cigarettes, manufactured products and even electronic goods.<\/p>\n

\u201cClothes and electronic goods don\u2019t really sell nowadays,\u201d said the source. \u201cMore than half of the merchants just sell food and beverages. That stuff sells because people need them, but it\u2019s hard to sell much else because people just don\u2019t have money to spare.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has also been a fall in the number of products entering Pyongyang recently, a separate source in Pyongyang told Daily NK. \u201cCompared to last year, the numbers have fallen a great deal. It\u2019s like the distribution sector has been suspended […] There are taxis and personal cars out and about, but few trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere haven\u2019t been many new products entering Pyongyang for a long time. Areas on the Sino-North Korean border are in better shape than Pyongyang. The effects of the sanctions are particularly bad here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The changes in what\u2019s being sold at the \u201cRed Street 2-dong Market,\u201d the numbers of active merchant stalls, and the fall in distribution of goods suggests that North Korea\u2019s economy is facing stagnation.<\/p>\n

Market prices, however, have remained steady, with one kilogram of rice selling for 4,200 to 4,300 KPW in early April. The cheapest rice goes for 3,800 KPW. Corn goes for 1,500 KPW while one block of tofu goes for 1,000 KPW. Pork is sold at 15,000 KPW, while one chicken goes for 17,000 KPW.<\/p>\n

North Korean commodity prices appeared to rise as the country experienced the perennial farm hardship period, but recently prices have remained similar to last year or even fallen.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaying that prices in North Korea are stable just shows ignorance of the economic system here,” an additional source in Pyongyang told Daily NK.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people buy food, and before the sanctions people could buy rice even if prices were high. Since the sanctions came into effect, people are having trouble coming up with the money to even buy rice. Rice sellers aren\u2019t selling as much as in the past so rice prices have fallen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fall in rice prices is likely due to the fall in purchasing power, experts say. Lee Seog Ki, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) notes that, \u201cthe fall in income may have led prices to stabilize, and the increase in demand for corn, which is cheaper than rice, may have led to rice prices staying the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently, people are eating more corn than rice,\u201d said the initial Pyongyang-based source. \u201cThey are using corn as a replacement because it\u2019s cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim Byong Yon, a professor of economics at Seoul National University, told Daily NK that that the fall in rice prices suggests a decrease in purchasing power.<\/p>\n

\u201cRice is a must-have for people, so it\u2019s the last product to feel the effect of sanctions or other external factors,\u201d Kim said. \u201cClothes, electronics, cosmetics and other things have fallen in sales while foodstuffs have seen a rise. This suggests they were impacted by external factors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysts also note that the North Korean government\u2019s active economic policies have stabilized prices. The authorities are using agriculture departments and business committees to prevent rises in grain prices.<\/p>\n

The sources worry, however, that even Pyongyang may face a lack of food as government supplies of rations continue to fall.<\/p>\n

Rations were not provided in November last year. They were provided during select holidays including Kim Jong Suk\u2019s birthday in December, Kim Jong Il\u2019s birthday in February and Kim Il Sung\u2019s birthday in mid-April, but not at all in March. Rations to people living in Pyongyang\u2019s Hyongjaesan District and Sungho District are nonexistent, and even those in the central districts of Pyongyang like Taedonggang, Potonggang and Mangyongdae face unreliable supplies of rations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Korean sources are reporting that there has been a drastic reduction in the number of merchants and items available for purchase in Pyongyang, amid reports that the country\u2019s overall economy is facing increasing problems. \u201cMerchants are have a difficult time even in some Pyongyang markets,\u201d said a Pyongyang-based source on April 17. \u201cThey can\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":39401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\nPyongyang\u2019s economy faces possible stagnation - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"North Korean sources are reporting that there has been a drastic reduction in the number of merchants and items available for purchase in Pyongyang, amid reports that the country\u2019s overall economy is facing increasing problems.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pyongyang\u2019s economy faces possible stagnation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korean sources are reporting that there has been a drastic reduction in the number of merchants and items available for purchase in Pyongyang, amid reports that the country\u2019s overall economy is facing increasing problems.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-25T08:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-17T00:21:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/KakaoTalk_20180618_142708793.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"881\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seulkee Jang\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857\"},\"headline\":\"Pyongyang\u2019s economy faces possible stagnation\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-25T08:00:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-17T00:21:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":846,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/KakaoTalk_20180618_142708793-e1710229049794.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/pyongyangs-economy-faces-possible-stagnation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pyongyang\u2019s economy faces possible stagnation - 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