Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

This is the first study to statistically investigate mental disability rates in North Korea, which is one of the most secluded and authoritarian countries in the world. Drawing on the second census conducted in North Korea in 2008 and the second UNDRR Global Survey (representing 132 countries) implemented in 2023, this study unexpectedly finds that the rate of North Koreans claiming to have no mental disability (98%) is twice as high compared to their counterparts in the rest of the world (42%). Similarly, whereas 5% in the world reported to not mentally function at all, the rate was 125 times lower in North Korea (0.04%). While sampling issues cannot be ruled out, the more likely reason for the differences in the mental disability rates is extreme social desirability bias in socialist North Korea.

Keywords: Census data, disability status, mental impairment, North Korea