In 2023, China became Kazakhstan’s top trading partner, relegating Russia to second place. This is according to data from the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan, which summarized last year’s foreign trade data.
The main importers of Kazakhstani products were China, Russia and Italy. The Russian Federation held the top spot in 2022. The total trade volume grew in 2023 to $139.8bn. Trade with China amounted to $31.5bn, with Russia — $26bn, with Italy — $16.1bn, and South Korea and Turkey — $6bn apiece.
Last year Kazakhstan’s export markets totaled 135, and the number of traded commodity items was almost 4,000. Crude oil and petroleum products were the top exports ($43.4bn), followed by industrial goods ($9.8bn), non-precious metals ($9.6bn), agro-industrial goods ($5.4bn), ores ($4.9bn), uranium ($3.4bn), and natural gas ($2.1bn). At the same time, Kazakhstan imported equipment and electrical machinery more than anything else ($15.5bn), followed by motor vehicles and auto parts ($7.8bn), non-precious metals ($5.6bn), and food and textiles ($4.8bn each).
In 2023 Kazakhstan increased non-resource exports to its East Asian trade partners: to Vietnam by 64%, to Hong Kong by 34%, to South Korea by 30%, and to China by 10%.
