Kazakhstan’s economy expands 4.2% in first nine months of 2026
Kazakhstan’s economy grew by 4.2% in the first nine months of 2026, driven largely by the non-resource sector, Qazinform News Agency quotes Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin as saying at a Government's meeting.
Presenting Kazakhstan’s socioeconomic results for the first nine months of 2026, Zhumangarin highlighted several challenges facing the country’s economy this year.
Oil production declined by 8.3% to 69.4 million tons in the first nine months of 2026.
At the same time, a stronger tenge has put pressure on revenues from export-oriented industries and the state budget, while slowing consumer lending has dampened domestic demand.
Year-on-year growth in consumer lending fell from 26.4% in August 2025 to 10.4% in August 2026.
Despite these challenges, Zhumangarin said Kazakhstan’s economy continued to expand and maintain positive momentum.
“The economy grew by 4.2% in the first nine months of this year, driven by the non-resource sector, which is estimated to have expanded by 5.4%. Construction, manufacturing, transport services, and trade recorded the highest growth rates, collectively contributing more than 75% to overall GDP growth,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
According to him, these trends point to a gradual transformation of Kazakhstan’s economic structure.
“Thanks to the gradual diversification of the economy, oil production’s share of GDP declined to 7.8% by the end of 2025. In the first half of this year, manufacturing’s share rose to 14.1%, while the mining sector accounted for 12.4%,” he added.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan’s GDP had reached 71.2 trillion tenge in the first half of 2026, marking a 4.1% increase in real terms compared with the same period in 2025.