North Korea is showing growing concern that its declining birth rate could eventually undermine national development, with a state scholar describing population decline as a serious challenge to a country’s survival and future.
In an article posted Friday on the website of Kim Il Sung University, Ho Kwang-rim, a professor in the university’s economics faculty, said persistently falling birth rates were leading to population decline in an increasing number of countries.
Such a trend has become a “serious challenge to the existence and development” of those countries, Ho wrote in an article titled “Population Policy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Present Stage.”
The article did not disclose North Korea’s latest birth or population figures. But its unusually direct reference to population decline offered another sign that Pyongyang is increasingly treating demographic change as a threat to the country’s long-term development.
Ho cited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as saying that population growth was an important issue concerning the country’s future during a policy speech at the first session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly.
Ho said the government was pursuing policies aimed at increasing the population by supporting childbirth, childcare and families with multiple children.
North Korea provides dairy products and other nutritional foods to children free of charge, operates state-funded nurseries and kindergartens and offers preferential treatment to large families, according to the article.
Pyongyang has also sought to build a social atmosphere that encourages families to have more children.
“How many children people give birth to and raise is a matter of great importance related to the rise and fall of the country and the future of the nation,” Ho wrote.
Ho added that the government was promoting the idea that having and raising many children was an act of patriotism.
North Korea has increasingly highlighted its falling birth rate since Kim publicly raised the issue at the Fifth National Meeting of Mothers in December 2023.
At the time, Kim described efforts to increase the birth rate as a major task that could not be resolved by the party and government alone.
Since then, state media has repeatedly promoted mothers with multiple children, while the government has expanded legal and institutional support through legislation on childcare and preferential treatment for large families.
North Korea does not regularly release detailed demographic statistics, making it difficult to determine the pace of its population change.
International estimates suggest its population is still growing slightly, but that the country is likely to face a decline in the coming years as its fertility rate remains below the level needed to maintain the population.
Ho also said extending life expectancy was a key part of the country’s population policy, citing efforts to prevent disease, lower infant mortality and expand health and leisure facilities.
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