SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's per-capita gross domestic product probably expanded more than 4 percent in 2011 from a year earlier on an improved grain harvest and intensified state efforts, a report said Sunday.

   The North's per-capita GDP for last year is estimated at US$720, up 4.7 percent from $688 a year earlier, Hyundai Research Institute said in the report based on the communist country's infant mortality rate and grain production.

   The North's 2011 per-capita GDP amounts to a mere 3 percent of that for archrival South Korea.

   "The increase stemmed from better grain crops," the think tank said. "Pyongyang also stepped up its efforts to meet its goal of building a strong and prosperous nation in 2012."

   According to data by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, North Korea's grain production reached 4.74 million tons last year, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier.

   Other positive factors were North Korea's expanded trade with China, its staunchest ally and largest benefactor, the existence of an inter-Korean industrial complex in the border city of Kaesong and aid from the international community, according to the report.

   Pyongyang's trade with China surged 62.4 percent on-year to $5.63 billion last year, the report said.

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