The economic gap between South and North Korea widened in 2014, with the difference in their trade volumes remaining far apart, government data showed Tuesday.
According to data by Statistics Korea, North Korea's nominal gross national income (GNI) came to 34.23 trillion won ($28.93 billion) in 2014, with that of the South hitting 1,496.6 trillion won, or roughly 44 times larger.
GNI is the total value that is produced within a country, which is comprised of the gross domestic product along with income obtained from other countries such as dividends and interest earnings.
In 2013, South Korea's GNI was 42.6 times larger than the North's.
On a per-capita basis, South Korea's GNI came to 29.7 million won, 21 times more than that of its northern neighbor, which stood at 1.39 million won. The difference widened slightly from the 20.8 times more tallied in 2013.
In addition, South Korea's economy advanced 3.3 percent in 2014, compared to 1 percent for North Korea.
On other fronts, as of the end of 2014, South Korea had a total population of 50.42 million compared to the North's 24.66 million, according to the data.
South Korea also continued to greatly outperform the communist North in trade.
In 2014, South Korea's overall trade volume came to a little under $1.1 trillion, 144 times larger than North Korea's $7.6 billion.
South Korea's overall energy output capacity reached 93.21 million kilowatts, 13 times larger than the North's 7.25 million kilowatts, while in the area of rice production the South had a two-to-one advantage. In 2014, Seoul's total rice production reached 4.24 million tons versus 2.15 million tons for Pyongyang.
In the mining and manufacturing sector, the South had a seven-fold lead in cement production, while in steel the gap was even greater, with South Korea's output being 59 times larger than that of the North.
The two Koreas also showed significant gaps in social infrastructure.
South Korea's road network totaled 105,673 kilometers compared with the North's 26,164 kilometers.
The statistics office has been publishing general information on the North since 1995 as a way of providing insight into the economic and social conditions of the reclusive country.
The two Koreas technically remain at war, since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with only a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. (Yonhap)
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