The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) projects the life span of the average North Korean will increase by about three months to 72-point-two years as of this July.

According to the agency's 2008 World Fact Book, the average life span in the North has risen gradually from 71-point-four years in 2005 to 71-point seven in 2006. It was 71-point-nine years in 2007.

North Korea’s population is expected to increase to nearly 23-and-a-half million this year from 23-point-three million last year.

However, the rate of growth is slowing. In 2005, the North Korean population grew nine-tenths of a percentage point. In 2006, it grew eight-tenths of a point and last year it was even slower.

The CIA also noted that North Korean society is aging as the number of people 65 years or older continues to grow.