The North Korean economy is estimated to have expanded by more than three percent in 2023, rebounding from a three-year recession.

According to data released by the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Friday, the North's real gross domestic product(GDP) last year rose three-point-one percent compared to a year earlier. The BOK attributed the growth to the North's eased COVID-related control measures and increased trade with China.

The North's GDP had contracted four-point-five percent on-year in 2020, zero-point-one percent in 2021 and zero-point-two percent in 2022.

In 2023, the country's agriculture, forestry and fishery industry grew one percent and its manufacturing sector by five-point-nine percent, compared to the respective two-point-one and four-point-six percent drop recorded for 2022.

The North's nominal gross national income(GNI) last year was estimated at 40-point-nine trillion won, about one-sixtieth that of South Korea's GNI, while the North's GNI per capita was one-point-59 million won, one-thirtieth that of South Korea.

North Korea's trade volume, with the exception of inter-Korean activity, reached 27-point-seven trillion won in 2023, up 74-point-six percent on-year.