---
title: "North Korea at night: North Korea data | Free North Korea"
description: "North Korea at night: Total light seen from space each year. It doubled from 2022 to 2025, while Seoul and rural South Korea stayed level in the same data. Interactive chart, table and CSV download, with source and date."
url: "https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data/night-lights"
language: en
translations:
  en: https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data/night-lights
  ko: https://liberatenorthkorea.org/ko/data/night-lights
  ja: https://liberatenorthkorea.org/ja/data/night-lights
  zh-Hans: https://liberatenorthkorea.org/zh/data/night-lights
---

[All charts](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data) · [Money and energy](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data#economy)

# North Korea at night

### North Korea at night

Total light seen from space each year. It doubled from 2022 to 2025, while Seoul and rural South Korea stayed level in the same data.

**Source:** [Annual VIIRS Night-time Lights (VNL V2.1 2013-2021, V2.2 from 2022), Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines, summed per county in Google Earth Engine](https://eogdata.mines.edu/products/vnl/) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-12

**Note:** Sum of each year's average radiance (nW/cm²/sr) over every VIIRS pixel in North Korea, after EOG masks background noise, fires and other short-lived light. Pyongyang is the Pyongyang province of the UN OCHA boundaries. The product changed version in 2022\. From 2022 to 2025 North Korea's total rose 130%, while in the same data Seoul rose 3%, rural Gangwon (South Korea) 7% and Dandong (China) 28%, so the rise is not a change in processing. 

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=North%20Korea%20at%20night&url=https%3A%2F%2Fliberatenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Fnight-lights)

## About this data

Latest

53,368 sum of lights (2025)

License

CC BY 4.0

How to cite

Free North Korea (2026). “North Korea at night”. Data from Annual VIIRS Night-time Lights (VNL V2.1 2013-2021, V2.2 from 2022), Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines, summed per county in Google Earth Engine. https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data/night-lights

[ CSV](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Ahmet-Dedeler/free-north-korea/main/data/series/csv/night-lights.csv)[ All data on GitHub](https://github.com/Ahmet-Dedeler/free-north-korea/blob/main/data/series/csv/night-lights.csv)

## Related charts

### GDP per person

Average yearly income per person, adjusted for prices and inflation (2011 international dollars).

**Source:** [Bolt and van Zanden – Maddison Project Database 2023, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-maddison-project-database) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-05, source updated 2024-04-26

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=GDP%20per%20person&url=https%3A%2F%2Fliberatenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Fgdp-per-capita)[ Open full chart](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data/gdp-per-capita)

### Electricity per person

Electricity generated in a year, divided by the population.

**Source:** [Ember (2026) and other sources, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-electricity-generation) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-05, source updated 2026-06-30

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Electricity%20per%20person&url=https%3A%2F%2Fliberatenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Felectricity-per-person)[ Open full chart](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data/electricity-per-person)

### Energy use per person

All energy used in a year (power, heat, transport), divided by the population.

**Source:** [Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026) and other sources, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-energy-use) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-05, source updated 2026-06-30

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Energy%20use%20per%20person&url=https%3A%2F%2Fliberatenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Fenergy-per-person)[ Open full chart](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data/energy-per-person)

### Access to electricity

Share of people who have electricity at home.

**Source:** [Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank, via Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-the-population-with-access-to-electricity) (CC BY 4.0)  ·  Data downloaded 2026-10-05, source updated 2026-07-27

[Share](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Access%20to%20electricity&url=https%3A%2F%2Fliberatenorthkorea.org%2Fdata%2Felectricity-access)[ Open full chart](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/data/electricity-access)