A new report finds that North Korea was able to post growth last year despite suffering multiple economic setbacks, including a failed currency reform.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) made the assessment in its 2010 World Factbook.

The CIA estimated that the North’s real gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 28-point-two billion dollars last year, up three-point-seven percent from 2008. The percentage increase was the 47th highest out of the 213 economies that were included in the study.

The CIA said that favorable weather conditions and the provision of energy aid to the North by its neighboring countries are likely to have helped the communist state reap economic growth.

However, the CIA noted that the North’s GDP per capita stood at 19-hundred dollars last year based on purchasing power parity. As a result, the North ranked 188th place in terms of GDP per capita, similar to Laos and Cambodia.