Kazakhstan Company & Group Structure Directory

Analysis

What this data actually tells you about Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan adopted a new constitution by nationwide referendum on 15 March 2026, with about 87% support; signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on 17 March, it took effect on 1 July 2026 and replaced the bicameral Parliament (Senate and Mazhilis) with a unicameral 145-seat legislature, the Kurultai, elected 23 August 2026. The reform also created a vice presidency and a new advisory body, the People’s Council (Halyk Kenesi); the government resigned and was reconstituted under Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov as the new Kurultai held its first session on 29 August 2026. Analysts have characterized the reform as consolidating executive power under the presidency even as it restructures the legislature.

The Bureau of National Statistics reported GDP growth of 6.5% for 2025, the strongest expansion since 2011, accelerating from 4.8% in 2024 and driven mainly by industry, transport and trade, with transport and warehousing alone growing 20.4% for the year. Nominal GDP reached roughly 159.5 trillion tenge (an estimated $335–344 billion depending on calculation method), and the population stood at approximately 20.5 million as of early 2026. The economy remains resource-dependent: Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium producer, supplying an estimated 40% of global output via state company Kazatomprom, while the giant Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak oil fields together account for roughly two-thirds of national crude production.

Investment activity accelerated through 2025 and 2026: the government and sovereign fund Samruk-Kazyna launched a 2026–2028 investment portfolio of 215 projects worth a combined $78.6 billion, prioritizing chemicals and petrochemicals, transport and logistics, and energy, while gross foreign direct investment reached an estimated $20.5 billion in 2025 (+14.4% year-on-year), with manufacturing FDI up sharply even as extractive-sector FDI declined. The European Union remains Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner, accounting for roughly 32.4% of total trade (about €45 billion in 2024), though Kazakh officials expect China to overtake both Russia and the EU in trade volume within a few years; the country has also positioned itself as a key transit hub on the Trans-Caspian “Middle Corridor” linking China to Europe, where freight volumes rose an estimated 62% in 2025.

Small and medium-sized enterprises played an outsized role in this growth, contributing an estimated 40.9% of GDP in 2025, up 2 percentage points from 2024. As of 1 January 2026, the Bureau of National Statistics counted roughly 2.18 million operating SME entities nationally, employing about 4.5 million people; individual entrepreneurs make up the large majority of these businesses by count (an estimated 71.6% of active entities), while formally registered medium-sized enterprises are a tiny fraction by number but contribute disproportionately to output, illustrating an economy built on a very large base of small, often informal businesses alongside a small number of much larger formal companies.