N Korea’s population grows by 100,000 to 25.60m this year

SEOUL- North Korea’s population increased by 100,000 from a year ago to 25.60 million this year, a U.S. government-funded radio station reported Thursday, citing data released by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), a Washington-based non-profit organization. 
According to Radio Free Asia, the 2018 World Population Data Sheet, compiled by PRB, also forecast the North’s population to grow every year down the road and increase by 1.1 million more than this year to 26.70 by 2030. 
After 2030, the population growth rate is projected to slow. By 2050, its population will likely reach 26.80 million, up 100,000 from 2030. 
A researcher at the organization told FRA that the country’s total fertility rate, or a measure of the average number of children expected to be born per woman, stood at 1.9 below the 2.1 replacement level. 
The proportion of people aged 65 or older, which was 10 percent of the country’s population this year, is forecast to double by 2050, the data sheet said. It also said the North’s infant mortality rate, or the number of infant deaths for every 1,000 newborns, went down to 12 in 2018, 16 in 2017 and 25 in 2015.