Cross-border banking exposure / North Korea
What the world’s banks lend to North Korea
The funding view: cross-border claims of BIS-reporting banks on North Korea, from the locational statistics (LBS, by lender residence), with the consolidated claims by bank nationality (CBS) alongside. BIS-reporting banks held $25M of cross-border claims on North Korea in Q4 2025, up from $524M when the series begins in Q4 1977.
Cross-border claims on North Korea, Q4 1977–Q4 2025
LBS cross-border claims of all reporting banks on North Korea, in USD billions, quarterly. The GFC and COVID quarters are shaded. This is the residence view, where a claim counts by where the lending bank sits, so a claim on North Korea booked from any reporting jurisdiction is included.
Source: BIS Locational Banking Statistics (WS_LBS_D_PUB), BIS Data Portal (data.bis.org). Selection: cross-border claims (measure C), all reporting countries (5A) vs North Korea as counterparty, all instruments, all currencies, all counterparty sectors, quarterly, amounts outstanding. License: free with “Source: BIS” attribution. Values shown in USD billions; raw BIS unit is USD millions. Methodology
Consolidated claims by bank nationality
CBS international claims on North Korea in Q4 2025, broken out by the nationality of the lending banks (where the parent is headquartered, worldwide-consolidated, immediate-counterparty basis). The top 3 reporting banking systems shown account for $10M of the $23M consolidated total. This is a different measure from the residence-based claims above and is not additive with them.
| Bank nationality | International claims | Share of the largest |
|---|---|---|
| FRA France | $5M | |
| MEX Mexico | $4M | |
| BEL Belgium | $1M |
Source: BIS Consolidated Banking Statistics (WS_CBS_PUB), BIS Data Portal (data.bis.org). Selection: international claims (measure I, domestic banks 4B, immediate-counterparty basis F), individual reporting banking system by nationality vs North Korea as counterparty, latest quarter, amounts outstanding. License: free with “Source: BIS” attribution. CBS carries claims only; it has no liabilities measure by design. Methodology
Back to the cross-border overview, or North Korea’s full financial profile on its country page. See the methodology for LBS versus CBS and the exact selections.