Kazakhstan’s Domestic Trade Slows in January

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the volume of domestic retail trade in Kazakhstan amounted to 1.49 trillion tenge in January. This is 2.1% higher than in January last year, but well below the growth rate seen in 2024, which was 4.2%, Orda.kz reports.

In month-on-month terms, a decline of 58.4% was recorded in January 2026 compared with December 2025. A similar situation was observed a year earlier, when the drop was slightly less pronounced at 56%. This suggests a seasonal trend linked to the post-holiday period.

In January, the volume of wholesale trade was three trillion tenge (66.9% of the country's total domestic trade), which was 3.2% higher than a year ago, but lower than the growth rate of 3.8% seen last year. However, this was less pronounced than in the retail segment. Compared to the previous month, there was a 56.2% decrease (compared to 53.2% a year earlier).

In all cases, the Physical Volume Index (PVI) was used to measure trade dynamics. This shows the increase or decrease in the value of goods and services sold over a given period, adjusted for sectoral inflation. Ultimately, it reflects changes in the actual volume of trade.

In January, 71.1% of total retail trade consisted of non-food goods. Individual entrepreneurs accounted for 19.5% of sales, including those made at markets. In the wholesale segment, the proportion of food products was even lower at 20.5%.

As expected, the largest contributions to retail trade came from Almaty (30.7%) and Astana (13.2%). The Karaganda Region was third with 8.3%. Ulytau accounted for just 0.6%. In wholesale trade, after Almaty (38.2%) and Astana (16.9%), the Atyrau Region followed with 12.4%. Ulytau was last again, accounting for just 0.2%.

Original author: Alexey Afonsky