Rice prices in North Korea’s informal markets, known as jangmadang, continued falling in September 2026 after a stretch of national holidays boosted grain supplies and eased demand.
According to Daily NK’s regular survey of North Korean market prices, a kilogram of rice sold for 41,100 North Korean won in one Pyongyang market as of Sept. 13. That was down 8.9% from the previous survey on Aug. 30.
Prices fell by similar margins in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, and Hyesan, Ryanggang province. Rice sold for 41,200 won per kilogram in Sinuiju and 41,400 won in Hyesan. The prices were down 8.8% and 8.6%, respectively, from two weeks earlier.
Corn, a staple food for lower-income North Korean people, also dropped noticeably in price. In Hyesan, a kilogram of corn cost 16,700 won, down 7.2% over the same two-week period.
The 4% to 9% decline in grain prices appears tied to increased supply around the Sept. 9 regime founding anniversary and the Chuseok harvest holiday. That extra supply reduced demand at markets during the period.
Ahead of major holidays, North Korean institutions typically supply cadres and employees with rice, corn, flour, cooking oil and sugar. That practice appears to have both curbed market demand and pushed extra grain into markets, contributing to the price drop.
The arrival of this year’s freshly harvested corn also appears to be weighing on grain prices.
“This is the season when freshly harvested corn for eating reaches the market,” Cho Chung-hee, director of the Good Farmers research institute, told Daily NK by phone. “While the new corn supply continues, corn prices, and rice prices to some extent, tend to fall somewhat,” she said. “This recent decline in prices appears to reflect that same trend.”
Dollar holds steady as yuan rate posts sharpest drop of the year
Foreign exchange rates showed diverging trends for the dollar and the Chinese yuan this month. The dollar exchange rate held firm with a slight upward bias, while the yuan exchange rate fell sharply.
The dollar exchange rate in Pyongyang’s markets stood at 69,500 won as of Sept. 13, up 1.9% from two weeks earlier, with Sinuiju and Hyesan showing similar trends.
By contrast, the won-yuan exchange rate fell around 12.5% over the same period in all three cities surveyed. The rate reached 12,500 won in Pyongyang, 12,530 won in Sinuiju and 12,540 won in Hyesan.
The won-yuan exchange rate started the year in the low 5,000s. It had climbed steadily since then amid warming North Korea-China relations and expanding cross-border trade. This month’s sharp pullback marks the first such decline so far in 2026.
A source said some inside the country increasingly argue the yuan is overvalued. The source described the drop as a correction aimed at rebalancing the relative value of the dollar and the yuan.
The dollar-yuan cross rate inside North Korea has typically hovered between 5.8 and 6.3 yuan per dollar. But as trade with China expanded recently, demand for yuan surged. That pushed the cross rate down to as low as 4.7 yuan per dollar at one point, underscoring the currency’s newfound strength inside the country.
That stands in sharp contrast to the international dollar-yuan exchange rate, which has hovered around 6.8 yuan per dollar. The gap suggests the yuan has been considerably overvalued inside North Korea’s foreign currency market.
The dollar-yuan cross rate inside the country tends to converge within a certain range. That happens because both foreign currencies circulate together in markets and influence each other’s relative value.
When the yuan’s value rises too sharply, it raises the cost of securing yuan needed to pay for Chinese goods. That can deepen imbalances across the broader foreign currency market.
Analysts say the correction reflects market pressure to deflate an excessive yuan valuation and restore a more balanced ratio with the dollar.
It remains to be seen whether the yuan’s decline will prove to be a temporary adjustment. It could also mark the start of a longer-term shift back toward the yuan’s previous value relative to the dollar.
Reporting from inside North Korea
Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.
Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea — discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.
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