Bureau of National Statistics - The Times Of Central Asia

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Household spending

Food Spending in Kazakhstan Tops Half of Consumer Budgets

Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy, ranks among the ten countries with the highest shares of consumer spending devoted to food in an international comparison. National figures show that food purchases continue to consume more than half of household consumer budgets despite rising cash incomes. According to international statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), residents of Kazakhstan spent approximately 42% of their consumer budgets on food in 2025. The USDA measure covers food and nonalcoholic beverages purchased for consumption at home, excluding restaurant meals, alcohol, and tobacco. Higher shares were recorded in Nigeria, Myanmar, and Laos, as well as neighboring Uzbekistan. By comparison, food accounted for roughly a quarter of consumer spending in Russia and 6.4% in the U.S. Investment company Halyk Finance noted in a June 2025 analysis that Kazakhstan ranked sixth in the USDA comparison for 2023. Kazakhstan's Bureau of National Statistics uses a different food category, which also includes alcohol and tobacco. In the first quarter of 2026, this category accounted for 48.6% of household cash expenditures and approximately 54% of consumer spending. Consumer spending covers purchases of goods and services, while total cash expenditures also include debt repayments, taxes, and transfers to other households. Nonfood goods represented 19.9% of cash expenditures, services 21.7%, and another 7.6% went toward repaying loans and other debts. Halyk Finance found that this national food category had accounted for more than half of household cash expenditures for five consecutive years by early 2025. Since January 2026, however, the bureau has classified spending at cafes and restaurants as services rather than food expenditures. A decline in the reported food share compared with previous years therefore cannot automatically be interpreted as an improvement in living standards. The first-quarter share varied sharply by region, reaching 57.5% in the Zhetysu region, 56% in the Mangystau region, and 54.7% in the East Kazakhstan region. The figure was 41.2% in the capital, Astana, and 47.7% in Almaty. These differences reflect household incomes, food prices, the cost of services, and consumption patterns. Annual spending on food and nonalcoholic beverages in Kazakhstan averaged $1,292 per person in 2025, an increase of 13.9% from the previous year. Meat and meat products accounted for the largest share of the food budget in the second quarter of 2026. The bureau's household spending figures show that an average household spent 61,248 tenge, approximately $135, per month on them, about one-third of its food and nonalcoholic beverage expenditures. Bread and cereals accounted for about 14%, while dairy products represented approximately 12.6%. In the first quarter of 2026, average per capita cash income was 399,819 tenge, approximately $880 over three months, or about $294 per month. In local currency, the figure rose 12.9% year over year, but this was a nominal increase that did not account for inflation. In September, annual inflation was 9.3%, while food prices rose 8.5% year over year. For lower-income households, even moderate increases in the prices of basic groceries can significantly reduce the amount available for other needs....

Domestic Violence

Survey Finds Decline in Kazakh Women Who Justify Domestic Violence

Recent data reveals a marked shift in attitudes toward domestic violence among women in Kazakhstan. While the number of women who justify abuse has declined, certain demographic groups continue to condone it under specific circumstances. These findings are based on a study conducted by analysts at Finprom.kz. Sharp Decline in Justifying Abuse Multi-indicator surveys conducted by the National Statistics Bureau in 2015 and 2024 show a significant decrease in the number of women who view domestic violence as acceptable. Approximately 14,400 women aged 15 to 49 participated in the survey. In 2015, 15.1% of respondents said a man has the right to hit his wife or partner. By 2024, this figure had dropped to just 4%. Respondents who deemed such violence acceptable were asked to specify the justification. The most commonly cited reason was neglect of children (2.8%), followed by refusal to do housework (1.6%), disobedience to the husband (1%), and leaving the house without permission (0.8%). Smaller shares justified violence due to refusal of intimacy (0.3%) or “burning food” (0.2%). Analysts interpret the declining acceptance of these views as a sign of changing social norms and an evolving understanding of women's roles within the family. Who Is More Likely to Justify Violence? The study revealed a notable divide between urban and rural populations. In rural areas, 6.8% of women still justify domestic violence, down from 20.6% a decade ago. In urban areas, only 2.6% expressed similar views. Regional disparities were also evident. In the Turkestan region, 10% of respondents believed a husband has the right to beat his wife. High levels of acceptance were also recorded in the Zhetysu region (9.5%) and Kostanay (8.8%). In contrast, the Mangistau region (0.2%), Aktobe (0.4%), and Atyrau (0.5%) reported the lowest figures. Age was another key factor. Older women were more likely to justify domestic violence: 4.7% of women aged 45-49 and 3.1% of those aged 40-44 approved of it under certain conditions. Younger women, particularly newlyweds, overwhelmingly rejected violence under any circumstances. Legal Reforms and Shifting Statistics Finprom.kz analysts compared these survey results with changes in criminal justice data. According to the Committee on Legal Statistics, reported criminal offenses related to domestic violence have increased 7.2 fold over the past decade. However, this spike is attributed to legal reforms. Until mid-2024, charges such as “Assault” and “Causing minor harm to health” were considered administrative violations. Following criminalization, reported cases rose sharply. From January to October 2025, 3,000 criminal offenses related to family or domestic violence were recorded, up 21.4% year-on-year. Assaults accounted for more than half of the cases (1,700, up 36.8% from June to October 2024), followed by “intentional infliction of minor bodily harm” (680 cases). Meanwhile, serious crimes showed a decline. Murders fell by 30.1%, rapes by 16.7%, and cases of “intentional infliction of serious harm to health” by 10.5%. Regional commissions on women’s affairs have also reported encouraging trends. The number of calls to crisis centers dropped from 30,500 in 2013 to 12,900 in 2024. Of these, 7,400...

Labor Market

More Kazakhs Working in Their Chosen Fields as Job Satisfaction Varies

A growing number of Kazakhstan’s citizens are working in their chosen professions, yet satisfaction with their jobs remains uneven across demographics and regions, according to a recent study by Finprom.kz based on survey data from the National Statistics Bureau (NSB). In a nationwide NSB survey conducted in March among nearly 12,000 respondents aged 15 and older, 50.7 percent reported being completely satisfied with their jobs, up slightly from 49.9 percent a year earlier. Another 29.9 percent said they were partially satisfied. The share of those dissatisfied with their jobs declined sharply from 3 percent to just 0.9 percent. However, 18.5 percent of respondents either found the question difficult to answer or considered it inappropriate, a sharp increase from 1.6 percent the previous year. Rural residents reported higher job satisfaction than their urban counterparts, with 53.9 percent compared to 49.4 percent. Dissatisfaction was also more common in cities (1.2 percent) than in rural areas (0.7 percent). Gender differences also appeared. Men were more likely to report being satisfied with their work (55 percent) than women (48.1 percent). Women were slightly more likely to say they were only partially satisfied or entirely dissatisfied (1 percent versus 0.6 percent among men). Satisfaction levels varied significantly by age. Among respondents under 17, only 30.2 percent were fully satisfied with their profession. Satisfaction peaked in the 29–38 age group at 62.5 percent but fell to 29.5 percent among those over 60. As expected, financial status played a major role. Among high-income individuals, 82.6 percent were content with their professional choice, compared to just 14.8 percent among low-income respondents. In the second quarter of 2025, Kazakhstan had 9.3 million employed people, an increase of 1.2 percent year over year. Of these, 7.1 million worked in their field of study, 1.7 million in unrelated professions, and 531,700 had not received formal professional training. Urban residents were more likely to work in their trained field, with 4.9 million people, or 83.3 percent of the urban workforce, compared to 2.2 million rural workers (63.7 percent). In rural areas, 24.8 percent worked outside their area of study and 11.5 percent lacked professional training. By gender, 3.6 million men and 3.5 million women reported working in their field. A higher percentage of women (77.6 percent) than men (74.8 percent) were employed in jobs matching their qualifications. The leading employment sector remained trade and auto repair, employing 1.6 million people, a 3.3 percent increase over the past year. It was followed by education (1.2 million, +2.5 percent), agriculture (1 million, –5.2 percent), transport and warehousing (676,900, +1 percent), and construction (638,300, –1 percent). The least represented sectors were water supply, real estate, and energy supply.

Economy

Kazakhstan to Raise Minimum Wage in 2026

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Labor and Social Protection, Svetlana Zhakupova, has announced that the government plans to raise the minimum wage starting January 1, 2026. While the exact amount was not disclosed, Finance Minister Madi Takiev suggested the minimum wage could increase to just over 90,000 KZT ($189) per month. Speaking on the sidelines of a joint meeting of both chambers of the Kazakh parliament, Zhakupova noted that last year her ministry approved a new methodology for calculating the minimum wage. The formula is based on labor productivity, median wages, and inflation. As all these indicators, especially inflation, have risen this year, an adjustment is being prepared. “Today, several institutions are conducting research to determine accurate indicators of labor productivity and median wages by region and by industry, all of which will inform the new minimum wage,” Zhakupova said. “By the end of the year, we expect to finalize the amount so that the increase can take effect from January 1.” Finance Minister Takiev echoed this projection, estimating the new figure at approximately 90,000 KZT. Currently, the minimum wage in Kazakhstan stands at 85,000 KZT ($164). If the forecast is accurate, the planned increase would be the smallest in seven years. For context, the minimum wage rose from 28,200 KZT to 42,500 KZT ($54 to $81) in 2019, to 60,000 KZT ($116) in 2022, and to 70,000 KZT ($135) in 2023. The current level was established in January 2024. Inflation for the first five months of this year reached 11.3%, according to official data. Earlier, parliamentary deputy Askhat Rakhimzhanov called for revising key social indicators, including the minimum subsistence level, minimum wage, and consumer basket. He argued the subsistence minimum, currently 46,000 KZT ($89), should be raised to at least 115,700 KZT ($223). Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin, who also heads the Ministry of National Economy, agreed that the minimum wage should rise but cautioned against abrupt increases. “Raising the minimum wage is complex. It must be balanced with efforts to contain inflation, as it leads to higher production costs and stimulates demand, which can further drive inflation,” Zhumangarin said. He acknowledged the sharp rise in prices and admitted he could not live on 85,000 KZT. According to the National Statistics Bureau, the average monthly nominal wage in Kazakhstan during Q1 2025 was 423,100 KZT ($816), while the median wage stood at 300,300 KZT ($579). Only 6.1% of the working population, or around 170,000 workers, earn less than 100,000 KZT monthly, according to the Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC). The majority, 53%, earn between 150,000 and 350,000 KZT ($290 to $675). As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, medical personnel remain among the lowest-paid occupational groups in the country.

Cinema

Kazakhstan’s Cinema Sees Record Growth in Attendance and Revenue

Cinema attendance in Kazakhstan grew by 11% in 2024, reaching a record 23 million viewers, according to the Bureau of National Statistics. This surpasses the previous year’s record of 21 million, reflecting a sustained recovery and growth in the country’s film industry. Of the total visits, foreign films accounted for 53%, approximately 12.2 million admissions, while domestic films drew 43% of the audience. Co-produced films made up the remaining 4%. Revenues from cinema screenings also hit a new high, reaching 43.9 billion tenge ($84.1 million) in 2024, up from 37.3 billion tenge ($71.5 million) the previous year. Domestic productions contributed 17.8 billion tenge ($34.1 million), marking a 19.3% increase from 2023. That year, revenue from Kazakhstani films grew by an impressive 58.5% compared to 2022. Foreign films generated 24.2 billion tenge ($46.3 million), showing a 17.8% increase over the previous year. Kazakhstan currently has 113 cinemas, with the largest concentrations in major cities: Almaty (22), Astana (11), and Shymkent (7). These cities also led in audience numbers, with Almaty recording 7.8 million visits, Astana 4 million, and Shymkent 1.9 million. In 2024, the Kazakh film industry produced 514 films, 127 more than in 2023. The breakdown includes 175 feature films, 215 documentaries, 83 animated films, and 41 newsreel-style chronicles. Feature-length films accounted for 18% of this output, with the rest being short films. However, despite increased production, the number of operational film studios fell from 98 in 2023 to 80 in 2024. This contraction highlights ongoing structural challenges in the sector, even amid growing output and audience engagement. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan is leveraging its cinematic revival to reinforce national traditions and cultural identity.