FACTBOX-Some facts about the North Korean economy

(Reuters) - North Korea, poor and largely sealed off from the rest of the international community, has seen its economy decline despite being next to some of the world's fastest growing economies.

The following data come from sources outside the secretive communist state which publishes almost no information about the condition of its centrally planned economy.

*SIZE OF ECONOMY

Annual gross domestic product in 2007 was just over $20 billion (11.5 billion pounds), a fall of 2.3 percent from the previous year due to the effects of widespread flooding, according to South Korea's central bank. However, a report commissioned by a former South Korean unification minister estimated it was less than half that.

*HOW MUCH DO NORTH KOREANS HAVE

Estimates of per capita income range from $400 to $1,000. Whichever figure is true, the population of around 23 million is one of the world's most destitute. That compares to around $20,000 in capitalist South Korea, once the poorer of the two halves of the Korean peninsula. North Korea's economy has declined over the past two decades.

*HUNGRY NATION

North Korea's state doctrine preaches self-reliance. But for years it has been unable to produce enough food for its people and relies heavily on foreign aid. Even in good harvests, it produces about 20 percent less than it needs. An estimated 1 million North Koreans perished during famine in the 1990s.

Last month, the U.N. World Food Programme estimated that North Korea would need some $500 million in food aid over the next year to avoid a humanitarian crisis.