New statistics indicate that international sanctions have pushed North Korea’s economy to the brink of collapse, although analysts have pointed out that previous predictions of economic crisis triggering the collapse of the regime in Pyongyang have failed to materialise.

The North Korean economy contracted by 3.5 percent in 2017, a sharp reverse from the 3.9 percent growth in the previous year, The Korea Times reported, while the figure for 2018 is almost certain to be worse due to sanctions imposed on the regime for its nuclear and missile programmes.

A report issued by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy estimates that the North’s GDP could have shrunk by as much as 5 percent when the figures for 2018 become available.

A second study, produced by the Korea Development Institute, said the North’s critical trade with China was hit hard by sanctions, falling more than 50 percent in 2018 to a value of $2.46 billion from $4.98 billion in the previous year.

China has been the North’s primary export market for resources such as coal and a range of consumer products, but sanctions have curtailed that trade. Exports totalled $220 million in 2018, an 87 percent decline from the $1.65 billion reported one year earlier.