North Korea's mortality rate rose from 5.5 percent in 1993 to 9.1 percent in 2002, while the average life span decreased 5.5 years to 67.2 during the same period.

Those are the numbers according to a '2002 Report on Reproduction and Health' released by a North Korean demographic institute and sponsored by the UN Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

The report says the average life expectancy of North Korean men fell to 63.1 years and 71 years for women as of 2002.

The worsening health conditions are attributed to malnutrition and disease caused by food shortages since the mid-90s.

The country's population stood at 23.3 million in 2002, up 164,000 from the previous year.

Experts call Pyongyang's disclosure of such data unusual.