Balayeva: Women Driving Kazakhstan’s Economy Despite Growing Gender Pay Gap

The BeWoman Asia 2025 international forum was held in Almaty, Orda.kz reports.

Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva described women as a driving force in Kazakhstan’s economy, while highlighting persistent inequality in employment and wages.

Women in Kazakhstan face economic inequality. The unemployment rate among women has reached 5.3%, while among men it's only 4.2%. The gender wage gap has widened from 21.7% to 25.7%. Despite this, women are becoming the driving force of the economy today, Balayeva said.

She noted that 30% of seats in parliament are reserved for women and young people, and pointed to growing female participation in the tech sector:

In Kazakhstan, the female literacy rate is 99.9%. One in five women in the country has a higher education. Furthermore, Kazakhstani women also lead in technology, science, and engineering. Thirty-one percent of women are employed in IT and the digital economy,  the minister stated.

According to Balayeva, women also dominate small and medium-sized businesses and stand out for their strong social responsibility.

BeWoman Asia is the largest women’s leadership forum in Central Asia, featuring open discussions, workshops, success stories from entrepreneurs, and presentations by international speakers.

Original Author: Perizat Zharylkasyn