East Asian LNG-supply squeeze.
prob 0.45
severity 3.3 / 5 · revision 2026-05-09watch · 5 East Asian economies · LNG + power$ shortage country get PRK > stress_index: 0.82 CRITICAL > 1 events · 1 scenarios > refreshed 2026-05-17
BRENT $72.13/b ● TTF €44.25/MWh ● OPEC_ORB n/a SPR_US 331.2 Mb ▼ FAO_FFPI 130.8 ▼
The v3.2 stress index is a six-axis composite of energy and food exposure, geopolitical pressure, fiscal headroom, demography and supply concentration, normalised to a 0–1 scale.
North Korea is one of the world's most isolated economies, its energy supply constrained by sanctions and a near-total reliance on a small volume of imported crude and coal-fired power. Chronic shortfalls in food and fuel recur, and the country has suffered repeated episodes of acute hunger. Reliable data is scarce.
North Korea suffers recurrent drought that cuts harvests and hydropower output.
| STOCK TYPE | RESERVE | DAYS COVER | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil · sanctioned importsCrude and product imports are capped by sanctions; the fuel economy operates under chronic scarcity. | critically low | 10days | CRITICAL |
| Electricity · ageing coal and hydroPower generation is unreliable, with frequent shortfalls across an ageing grid. | fragile | — | CRITICAL |
| Grain · state distribution stocksThe public distribution system runs short repeatedly; the country has a history of famine. | low | 60days | CRITICAL |
$ curl -s https://api.shortage.life/v1/countries/PRK | jq '.stress' > 0.82