Fewer Kazakhstanis Work Outside Their Home Regions

The number of people in Kazakhstan working outside their place of residence has fallen significantly. By the end of 2025, the number of internal labor migrants stood at 401,000, down from 506,800 a year earlier — a decline of more than 20%, Orda.kz reports, citing Finprom analysts.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the sharpest drop was recorded among Kazakhstanis who travel to another settlement within their own region for work. Their number fell by 36.5% to 134,800. The number of rotational workers employed in other regions of the country decreased by 7.8% to 176,200.

Most internal labor migrants are still concentrated in the Almaty region. Last year, the region had about 149,300 such workers — more than a third of the national total. Most of them commute daily to jobs in Almaty. A similar pattern is seen in the Akmola region, where many residents work in Astana.

Almaty, the Atyrau region, and Astana remain among the most attractive destinations for labor migrants. More than 127,000 people living outside Almaty worked in the city. About 17,200 people came to the Atyrau region for work, while 13,400 came to the capital.

Against this backdrop, growth in rotational vacancies was recorded only in certain sectors. More offers appeared in the hotel and restaurant business, logistics, and the industrial equipment segment, where the number of vacancies increased by 66.7%.

Original author: Alexander Smolin

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