The Income Gap Between Rich and Poor Kazakhs Is Widening
Analysts at Ranking.kz note that the income gap in Kazakhstan has remained consistently high in recent years. According to the National Statistics Bureau (NSB), from 2019 to 2023, the incomes of the poorest 10% and the wealthiest 10% of Kazakhstani citizens differed by an average factor of 5.9 to 6. In 2024, the gap reached a record high of 6.2 times. Who Are the Poor and Who Are the Rich? The NSB divides the population into ten equal income groups, or deciles. Formally, not only the bottom 10% can be classified as poor, but also the four adjacent deciles. Their average per capita income does not even reach the minimum monthly wage of 85,000 KZT ($157). Collectively, this bottom half of the population receives only 30.2% of the country’s total income. At the other end of the spectrum, the wealthiest 10% account for 24.1% of total income. This group includes individuals with monthly incomes ranging from 181,300 KZT ($336) to 1.6 million KZT ($2,963). However, this wide income range also includes many middle-class earners. Only a small fraction are truly wealthy. Salaried Employees: Who Earns What Among salaried employees (excluding the self-employed and those working in small businesses), income disparities remain stark. In 2024: 3.3% of employees (112,100 people) earned over 1 million KZT ($1,852) per month. 6.1% (210,600 people) earned less than 100,000 KZT ($185). The largest share of employees fell into the following income brackets: 100,000-200,000 KZT ($185-370) - 23.9% 200,000-300,000 KZT ($370-555) - 23.2% High salaries are more prevalent in sectors with higher nominal wages: Finance and insurance - 13.9% of employees earned over 1 million KZT Information and communications - 12.6% Professional, scientific, and technical fields - 10.1% Among civil servants, only 0.7% earn this amount. Meanwhile, low-wage earners (earning under 100,000 KZT) are most concentrated in: Administrative and support services - 18.4% Agriculture - 12.2% Across most industries, the most common salary level is between 200,000 and 400,000 KZT ($370-740). Regional Disparities Unsurprisingly, the highest concentration of “salary millionaires” is found in Kazakhstan’s oil-producing regions: Mangistau - 14.5% Atyrau - 11.5% In major cities, the numbers are more modest: Almaty - 6% Astana - 4.8% The regions with the lowest share of low-paid workers (earning under 100,000 KZT) are: Turkestan - 11.1% North Kazakhstan - 10.3% Zhambyl - 10% However, the Turkestan region remains one of the most economically vulnerable: in the first quarter of 2025, 8.1% of its population lived below the subsistence level, compared to the national average of 4.5%. More than 175,000 families survive on an income of just 52,500 KZT ($97) per person. Spending Patterns: Common Ground and Divergence Income inequality is also reflected in spending patterns. Despite the income gap, both poor and relatively affluent citizens spend a disproportionate share of their budgets on food. The lowest-income group spends 60.6% on food, while the wealthiest decile still spends 51.7%. For comparison, in developed European countries, the average is just 8-12%. However, differences become clearer in other spending categories. Wealthier citizens...
