Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Regulatory Quality

North Korea’s regulatory quality score has slipped to –2.37 in 2025, placing it 202nd out of 215 economies and marking a modest deterioration from the –2.28 recorded in 1996. The index reached its best level of –1.88 in 2002, a brief improvement that was reversed by a pronounced trough of –2.53 in 2012, after which the score has hovered in the low‑‑2 range. Compared with peers that occupy nearby positions in the World Bank governance rankings, South Sudan records a higher –2.19 while Eritrea lags at –2.49, underscoring that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remains among the lowest‑performing jurisdictions in terms of transparent and predictable regulation. The persistent decline reflects entrenched institutional constraints and limited engagement with international regulatory norms. Unless substantive reforms to streamline rule‑making, enhance accountability and open the economy to external scrutiny are undertaken, the regulatory quality trajectory is likely to remain flat or worsen in the near term.