Employment Falls at Kazakhstan’s Small and Medium Businesses
Illustration: pixabay
As of April 1, 2026, small and medium-sized businesses in Kazakhstan employed 3.92 million people — 403,000, or 9.3%, fewer than a year earlier, Orda.kz reports, citing the Bureau of National Statistics.
The number of operating SMEs fell by 1.5% to 2.07 million, while the number of registered SMEs declined by 2.4% to 2.24 million.
The bureau said the figures were affected by some individual entrepreneurs switching to the new tax regime for self-employed workers, introduced at the beginning of 2026.
In the first quarter, SMEs produced goods and services worth 19.5 trillion tenge. This was a nominal increase of 4.3%, but after adjusting for inflation, output fell by 6.6%.
The sector’s share of GDP remained almost unchanged at 38.7%, compared with 38.6% a year earlier. SMEs still employ about 40% of Kazakhstan’s workforce.
Individual entrepreneurs account for 70% of all operating SMEs. Trade remains the largest sector, generating almost one-third of both output and employment. Industrial output grew by about one-third, while construction output fell by almost 35%.
Almaty’s SMEs produced 5.1 trillion tenge worth of goods and services, while those in Astana produced 3.7 trillion tenge. Together, the two cities accounted for about 45% of total SME output.
Earlier, lawmakers warned that new public procurement requirements could push SME suppliers out of the market. The government rejected that assessment, saying the changes merely bring procurement rules into line with the Tax Code.
Small businesses also continue to lag behind in technology adoption. According to the bureau, only 9.8% of small enterprises introduce innovations, compared with 17.7% of medium-sized businesses and 34.2% of large companies.
Original author: Alexander Zhdanov
Read also:
Latest news
- Archaeologists Study 1,500-Year-Old Settlement in Southern Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan Confirms Generator Failure but Rejects Blame for Almaty Blackout
- Kokshetau Power Plant Shifts to Domestic Financing and Chinese Equipment
- Kazakhstan May Have to Choose Between US and Chinese AI Initiatives
- Kazakhstan Still Unable to Resume Druzhba Oil Exports to Germany
- Major Blackout Hits Much of Central Asia
- “He Was Not Ready”: Japarov Drops Plan to Back Tashiev and Will Seek Re-Election
- Domestic Violence Center Lawyer Convicted of Assaulting His Wife
- South Korea Opens Legal Factory and Cleaning Jobs to Kazakhstanis
- Almaty Petition Calls for Halt to Covering Open Irrigation Channels
- Rare Vulture Tagged in Kazakhstan to Track Its Migration
- Kazakhstan’s First 50 MW Data Center to Launch in June 2027
- KNB Service Dog Returns to Auction With Minimum Price of About 20 Cents
- Kazakhtelecom Finds No Internal Fault as Telegram Problems Continue
- Telegram Disruptions Reported Across Kazakhstan
- Employee Numbers Rise as Self-Employment Declines in Kazakhstan
- Kazakhstan’s Maritime Companies Earn More From Vessel Charters Than Shipping
- Digital Ministry Comments on Alleged Leak of 15 Million Kazakhstanis’ Data
- German Couple Dies in Akmola Region Highway Crash
- State Agencies to Receive Top Score When Citizens Leave No Feedback
