Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Turkey instead of North Korea, you would:

Health

live 3.7 years longer

In North Korea, the average life expectancy is 74 years (72 years for men, 76 years for women) as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 77 years (75 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2024.

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have 11.8% more access to essential health services

North Korea scores 68 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Turkey scores 76 as of 2021.

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be 71.1% less likely to die by suicide

North Korea has a suicide rate of 9.3 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Turkey, it is 2.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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be 2.4 times more likely to be obese

In North Korea, 11.9% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 28.8% of people as of 2024.

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Economy

be 2.4 times more likely to be unemployed

In North Korea, 3.5% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Turkey, that number is 8.5% as of 2025.

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Life

be 77.6% less likely to die during childbirth

In North Korea, approximately 67.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Turkey, 15.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 39.8% less likely to die during infancy

In North Korea, approximately 13.3 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Turkey, on the other hand, 8.0 children do as of 2024.

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have 14.5% fewer children

In North Korea, there are approximately 12.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Turkey, there are 11.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 73.9% more likely to have access to electricity

In North Korea, approximately 58% of people have electricity access (36% in urban areas, and 11% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Turkey, that number is 100% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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Geography

see 2.9 times more coastline

North Korea has a total of 2,495 km of coastline. In Turkey, that number is 7,200 km.

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Infrastructure

use 4.7 times more electricity

North Korea uses 789 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Turkey uses 3,731 kWh as of 2024.

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live with 72.6% more strain on fresh water

North Korea withdraws 28% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Turkey withdraws 48% as of 2022.

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Environment

be 54.7% less likely to die from air pollution

In North Korea, air pollution causes 86.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Turkey, it causes 39.0 as of 2019.

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emit 2.2 times more CO2

North Korea emits 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Turkey emits 5.4 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

Compare further: North Korea vs. Turkey

Cost of Living Comparison · 4 categories - 2026 data
Turkey is 80.9% more expensive than North Korea overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
North Korea is about 6 times smaller than Turkey.
→
Moving from North Korea to Turkey · UN DESA 2020
37 people born in North Korea live in Turkey.
→

Turkey: At a glance

Turkey is a sovereign country in Middle East, with a total land area of approximately 769,632 sq km. Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk or "Father of the Turks." Under his leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the Kurdistan People's Congress or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives. After the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey mainly to northern Iraq. In 2013, KGK and the Turkish Government agreed to a ceasefire that continues despite slow progress in ongoing peace talks. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community. Over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy; it began accession membership talks with the European Union in 2005.
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