North Korea’s economy contracted for the third straight year in 2022, according to a new Bank of Korea (BOK) report, in what appears to be a result of the DPRK’s ongoing COVID-19 border restrictions, international sanctions and the impact of severe weather.

The economic decline of 0.2% edged past the 0.1% slump in 2021 but was nowhere near the 4.5% drop recorded in 2020, when North Korea suffered its worst economic downturn since 1997 due to its self-imposed pandemic restrictions, the report released Friday shows.