Introduction

North KoreaChina and North KoreaRussia trade serve as key indicators of broader economic conditions in North Korea. In particular, trade with China accounts for roughly 95 percent of total trade, underscoring the economy’s structural dependence on imported industrial inputs such as crude oil, refined fuels, rubber, synthetic resins, textiles, chemical compounds, and machinery and electronic components. Developments in North KoreaChina trade therefore provide a critical window into underlying economic dynamics.

The North Korean economy in 2025 is shaped by several defining factors: the final year of the Five-Year Plan (20212025), the second year of full-scale implementation of the 20×10 Regional Development Plan, efforts to expand foreign currency earnings through processing trade, the revitalization of the steel and chemical industries, and ongoing housing construction and modernization projects in both urban and rural areas.

These policy priorities offer several analytical entry points for assessing trade patterns. Imports associated with the Five-Year Plan could, in principle, be evaluated in terms of progress toward the 12 Major Goals. Since the authorities declared their completion at the 9th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee in December 2023, this dimension is of limited relevance for analyzing 2025 developments. By contrast, the 20×10 Regional Development Plan and housing construction initiatives are more directly reflected in imports of construction materials, which serve as a practical proxy for policy implementation. Efforts to expand foreign currency earnings through processing trade are closely linked to imports of textile and apparel inputs, while developments in the steel and chemical industries can be assessed through imports of coke and industrial catalysts.

* This article is part of 2025/2026 The DPRK Economic Outlook

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