Rice prices in North Korean markets topped 50,000 North Korean won per kilogram for the first time in late October 2026. The record comes even as farms across the country bring in the autumn harvest. Fears of a smaller rice crop appear to be driving North Korean households and traders to stockpile grain, pushing prices up when they would normally ease.
A kilogram of rice sold for 51,700 won at a market in Pyongyang on Oct. 25, according to Daily NK’s regular survey of North Korean market prices. That marked an 18.9% jump from the 43,500 won recorded in the capital on Oct. 11.
Rice prices climbed at a similar pace in other parts of the country. In Hyesan, Ryanggang province, a kilogram of rice fetched 52,000 won on the same day. That was up 18.7% from 43,800 won in the previous survey.
This is the first time rice has crossed 50,000 won since North Korea’s 2009 currency redenomination. That November 2009 reform slashed two zeros from the won and wiped out much of ordinary North Koreans’ cash savings. It remains the starting point for comparing the country’s market prices over time.
Rice prices have nearly tripled since January 2026, when a kilogram sold for about 18,000 won. Prices then hit one record high after another before reaching roughly 47,000 won in August. The rally stalled for a while as wheat, corn and food imports reached markets. In October, however, rice prices began climbing steeply once again in markets nationwide.
The timing makes the latest surge stand out, since harvesting and threshing are now in full swing nationwide. Farm workers and mobilized city workers are bringing in the crop across North Korea. In most years, the arrival of new grain helps ease market prices in the months that follow.
North Korean agricultural agencies reportedly estimate that this year’s rice harvest will roughly match last year’s output. Farm workers doing the actual harvesting, however, expect a smaller crop, according to a Daily NK source in Ryanggang province.
“Many farm workers feel that this year’s harvest is worse than last year’s,” the source said. “Production isn’t growing, but the amount the state takes through procurement rises every year. People are saying the food actually handed out to farm workers may end up smaller than before.”
On North Korean collective farms, workers receive grain only after the farm meets its mandatory state procurement quota. That quota is the portion of each harvest the state requires farms to hand over. Even if the overall harvest matches last year’s, a larger quota leaves less food for the people who grew it.
Private moneylenders in the countryside are growing anxious about the harvest as well. They advance cash and farming supplies to farms and individual farmers in the spring. In return, they collect repayment in grain after the autumn harvest, often at steep interest. Many now fear that borrowers will be unable to repay both principal and interest this year.
With rural North Koreans bracing for a lean year, more households are trying to store extra rice. That rush to stockpile helps explain why rice prices are rising during the harvest itself. It is also a worrying sign for North Korea’s food security heading into winter.
Corn prices, by contrast, have risen far more slowly than rice prices over the same period. Newly harvested corn is already reaching market stalls, giving the cheaper staple a steadier supply.
A kilogram of corn sold for 15,100 won at a Pyongyang market on Oct. 25, up just 2.0%. In Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, corn sold for 15,300 won, an increase of about 2%.
Yuan surges as rice prices climb and China trade hopes grow
Market exchange rates for the U.S. dollar and the Chinese yuan moved in opposite directions over the same two weeks. The dollar slipped slightly against the won, while the yuan jumped more than 10% in border cities.
One dollar traded for 69,200 won in Pyongyang on Oct. 25, down 2.8% from 71,200 won. Dollar rates in Sinuiju, Hyesan and other surveyed areas generally ranged from 69,000 won to just over 70,000 won.
The yuan, on the other hand, climbed steeply in North Korea’s border cities near China. One yuan traded for 12,520 won in Sinuiju and 12,530 won in Hyesan on Oct. 25. Those rates were up 10.4% and 10.7%, respectively, from two weeks earlier.
The jump appears tied to hopes for expanded North Korea-China trade after the New Yalu River Bridge officially opened on Oct. 15. The bridge links Sinuiju with the Chinese border city of Dandong. It sat unused for more than a decade after construction wrapped up in 2014, delayed by sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting ties between Pyongyang and Beijing.
Traders and donju in the border region are reportedly buying up yuan to prepare for future deals. Donju, roughly “masters of money,” are newly wealthy entrepreneurs who bankroll much of North Korea’s market economy.
“With the new bridge open and the Marshal (Kim Jong Un) having been to China, people expect easier trade,” the Ryanggang province source said. “They think goods we couldn’t bring in through official trade will be easy to deal in from now on. Donju and trade workers are switching their money into yuan to get ready for that.”
Kim crossed the New Yalu River Bridge into Dandong on Oct. 24 for a one-day visit. It was his first trip to China in more than a year, and he met Wang Huning, the Chinese Communist Party’s fourth-ranking leader.
Rumors are also spreading in Ryanggang and North Pyongan provinces about used cars and machinery. Traders say these goods may soon enter North Korea through official channels for the first time in years. Both have long been hard to import legally, partly because United Nations sanctions bar their sale to North Korea.
It remains unclear whether these hopes will lead to eased import controls or more permitted trade goods. Even so, a short-term rush to stockpile yuan ahead of possible trade growth appears to be pushing the exchange rate higher.
Fuel prices, which surged earlier this year amid the Iran war, also jumped sharply over the past two weeks. A kilogram of gasoline sold for 98,200 won at a Pyongyang market on Oct. 25, up 25.6%. Diesel climbed 27.1% over the same period to 87,800 won per kilogram.
The spike appears to reflect harvest-season demand for fuel to run farm machinery and haul grain. Supplies arriving from outside the country have also dropped somewhat in recent weeks, the source said.
“Demand for fuel is high during the farming season, and lately the amount coming in has also dropped, so prices are jumping,” the source said. “It won’t be easy for fuel prices to settle down until the autumn harvest is completely over.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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October 29, 2026 at 10:47PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)