Xi Jinping is making his first visit to North Korea since 2019. Pyongyang depends on China for 95% of its legal trade; hacking, weapons deals, and remittances also help keep it functioning.
North Korea operates one of the most unusual economies globally. Despite being among a small number of countries with nuclear weapons, its 2024 gross domestic product (GDP) was a mere $26.6 billion (€22.9 billion).
That figure is roughly 70 times smaller than South Korea's $1.86 trillion economy and about one-fifth of the annual revenue of Nvidia, the world's most traded company.
Due to a centrally planned system that emphasizes domestic production, North Korea is far less dependent on trade than a typical free-market economy, partly because of international sanctions imposed by the United Nations in 2017 over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
The North's total imports and exports represent only a tiny share of GDP, compared to the South, where international trade accounts for roughly 80% of the economy, according to the World Bank.
How significant is China to North Korea's economy?
It could be said that China plays a nearly exclusive role in North Korea's limited reliance on trade.
According to the Washington-based think tank the National Committee on North Korea, Pyongyang relies on China for up to 95% of total trade and 85% of its exports.
Nearly all imports also come from China. In 2024, North Korea's legal imports amounted to just $2.33 billion — a tiny sum by global standards.
With no domestic oil production, these deliveries from China include petroleum and other fuels and are vital for keeping the economy running, along with food, textiles, machinery, electronics, and vehicles.
This gives Beijing enormous economic leverage over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A recent report indicated that US President Donald Trump is now attempting to use that influence to bring Pyongyang back to negotiations over its controversial nuclear weapons program.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Pyongyang on June 8 and 9, according to state media in both countries. It marks Xi's first trip to North Korea since 2019.
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What is North Korea allowed to export to the rest of the world?
Legal exports from what the US labels a rogue state are even less substantial. According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, North Korea's exports barely reached $360 million in 2024.
Those foreign sales are notably modest, with fake hair and wigs being the country's only top seller, accounting for about 40% of exports, mainly to China, which then re-exports them globally.
North Korea turned to wigs for essential foreign income after sanctions blocked its traditional major exports like coal and minerals, while fake hair was not explicitly prohibited.
The communist country also has an abundant supply of low-cost and often forced labor — ideal for a highly labor-intensive and low-tech industry like wig manufacturing.
Other goods such as tungsten and other ores, frozen fish, iron and steel, and watch components each represent less than 10% of the country's exports.
Since the sanctions were imposed, Pyongyang has lost roughly $2.2 billion annually in export revenue, according to the Korea Economic Institute of America think tank.
How else does Pyongyang generate money?
Beyond its limited exports, North Korea earns significantly more hard currency through its shadow economy.
The country sends tens of thousands of workers abroad, many to Russia and China, to work in construction, logging, factories, and fisheries.
This program is widely regarded by human rights groups and the UN as another form of forced labor.
The state then seizes most of their wages, generating around half a billion dollars annually, according to the UN Panel of Experts.
Thousands of North Korean computer professionals also work remotely for companies based in the US, South Korea, and the European Union, posing as legitimate freelancers using false — often stolen — identities.
Often, they earn high salaries, which are then funneled back to the regime. In 2024, these loyalty remittances brought in $800 million for the state, according to the US Treasury Department.
North Korea also operates one of the world's most advanced and profitable hacking programs, leading one US think tank to label its cybercriminals "the most dangerous state-sponsored threat to the financial services sector."
In 2025, North Korean hackers stole a record $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency, representing over half of all global digital currency theft that year, according to the blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis.
Yet, the communist nation's biggest — and most secretive — money-maker has been fueled by the war in Ukraine and Pyongyang’s longstanding close ties with Moscow.
North Korea has supplied Russia with millions of artillery shells, rockets, and ballistic missiles, boosting the Kremlin's war effort and earning Kim's regime an estimated $7 billion to $13.8 billion since 2023, according to South Korea’s Institute for National Security Strategy.
These revenues, according to Seoul-based intelligence officials, are being used to accelerate the North's nuclear and ballistic missile program, as well as to source additional oil and food from China.
Edited by: Rob Mudge
Editor's note: This article, first published on June 1, 2026, was updated on June 2 to correctly attribute North Korea's designation as a rogue state to the United States. DW apologizes for this omission. Editor's note: This article was further updated on June 5, 2026, to reflect that the visit of China's President Xi to North Korea had been confirmed by state media in China and North Korea. When Xi arrived in Pyongyang on June 8, the article was updated again.
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