North Korea vs South Korea: Rural population
North Korea
9.52 million
in 2025
South Korea
9.73 million
in 2025
North Korea rank
58th
South Korea rank
55th
Rural population over time
- North Korea
- South Korea
How they compare
South Korea currently reports 9.73 million against 9.52 million in North Korea, a difference of 214,980.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 66 shared years of data; in 1960 it was South Korea ahead.
Globally, North Korea ranks 58th and South Korea ranks 55th of 215 countries.
Individual pages
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.