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
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