Kazakhstan Has Almost Three Times More Old Cars Than New Ones

There are 2.2 million cars older than 20 years in Kazakhstan, Orda.kz reports, citing EnergyProm.

By March 2026, about five million cars were registered in the country. Of these, 2.2 million, or 43.9%, were more than 20 years old. Cars less than three years old accounted for only 751,700 vehicles, or 15% of the total fleet.

There is another large layer between new and old vehicles. Some 1.4 million cars in the country have been in use for 10 to 20 years. Cars aged three to seven years account for 494,000 vehicles, while those aged seven to 10 years account for only 193,600,analysts said.

Most cars were registered in Almaty, with 619,500 vehicles. Almaty Region ranked second with 528,500 cars, followed by Astana with 402,300. Curiously, 120,200 cars are still registered with license plates from the South Kazakhstan Region, which was abolished back in 2018.

The regional breakdown shows a major gap between the capital and the rest of the country. In Astana, new cars, up to three years old, make up 30.2% of the local fleet, while old cars, more than 20 years old, account for only 20.2%. In Zhambyl Region, the picture is the opposite, with 64.9% of cars older than 20 years. The same pattern can be seen in Zhetysu (58.9%), Almaty (58.6%), North Kazakhstan (54.9%), East Kazakhstan (54.4%), Akmola (51.7%) and Karaganda (50%) regions.

Newer cars remain scarce in most regions. Apart from Astana, a significant share of new cars is found only in Almaty (23.5%), Abay Region (21.7%) and Shymkent (21.1%). In other regions, the figure ranges from 8.3% to 16%.

Still, there has been some progress. The share of newer cars increased from 7.2% in March 2022 to 15% in March 2026. Over the same period, the share of old cars declined from 50.5% to 43.9%. At this pace, it will take years to significantly rejuvenate the country’s vehicle fleet.

Kazakhstan remains a country of old cars. Millions of families simply cannot afford new vehicles, so demand has shifted to cheaper options, even if they are more than 20 years old. As a result, there is a large amount of technically outdated transport on the roads. This burdens owners with constant repair costs, affects road safety and worsens the environment in cities.

Original author: Ruslan Loginov

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