North Korean households lack access to computers despite the country's nearly 100 percent penetration rate of radios and TVs, United Nations Children's Fund data showed Monday.

According to the data released by UNICEF, conducted on 8,500 households in the country last year, North Korean households boasted a penetration rate of 94.1 percent and 98.2 percent for radios and TVs, respectively.

The figure for computers, however, came to 18.7 percent, with only 1.4 percent of the households able to access North Korea's intranet.

The 2017 DPR Korea Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Report comes nine years after the previous report announced in 2009, UNICEF said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's formal name.

According to the latest report, among the age group of 15-49, 44.2 percent of males said they had used computers in the previous three months, while the rate for their female counterparts was 32.8 percent, as the respondents apparently used computers at workplaces despite the low penetration rate.

Among the same age group, 55.7 percent of males owned handsets, with females also posting a comparable figure of 47.9 percent. A whopping 88.8 percent and 82.5 percent of men and women said they had used a handset in the previous three months.

In terms of healthcare, 12 out of every 1,000 North Korean newborns were likely to die within a year. A whopping 99.6 percent of babies aged 12-23 months received vaccinations against tuberculosis.

"Our early reading of the data suggests that humanitarian efforts are working and making significant contributions in improving children's health across the country," Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement released last week.

"However, the data also suggests that there has been less progress for children in some rural areas. Urgent action to expand support and increase access to life-saving interventions for children in rural areas is essential," Hulshof added. (Yonhap)