Real Wage Growth in Kazakhstan Driven by Few Sectors, While Most See Decline

Real wages in Kazakhstan are growing on paper, but in practice, this growth is concentrated in just a few high-paying industries, while wages in most other sectors are falling, Orda.kz reports.

According to Halyk Finance’s analysis of data for the first quarter of 2025, real wages across the country increased by only 1.2%. The main contributor was the telecommunications sector, where wages rose by 20% in just three months.

Analyst Arslan Aronov noted that some other sectors also showed year-on-year growth: agriculture (+7.2%), arts and entertainment (+6.1%), trade (+5.9%), real estate (+4.8%), and industry (+4.4%). However, these gains are modest compared to the growth in IT.

In contrast, wages fell in healthcare (-2.9%), education (-3%), hospitality (-4.7%), and construction (-7.2%). The administrative sector saw the steepest drop, with wages down 8.3% in the first quarter, continuing a trend of decline lasting over a year.

This trend demonstrates the uneven distribution of changes in wages across the country's workforce, with high growth rates in information and communications and declining wages in construction, health care, education, administrative and support services,
Aronov said. 

Year-on-year, wage growth in Kazakhstan has slowed significantly. In early 2022, real wages grew by 12.7%, but by 2025, that figure had dropped to just 1.2%. While lower inflation has reduced the pressure on incomes, the overall wage growth remains weak.

The Halyk Finance analyst also noted that fluctuations in inflation have recently caused real and nominal wages to align more closely.

Still, there are concerns that real wage growth may soon stall altogether.

Against the backdrop of renewed inflation growth, real wages may slow down their growth rate, but remain positive. However, the growth of real wages in Kazakhstan is lagging behind the country's GDP growth. According to preliminary data, economic growth in the first four months was six percent year-on-year, which contrasts with the growth in wages of hired workers.

Aronov stressed the need for balanced development across all sectors. He recommended targeted investment in industries employing large numbers of workers and in initiatives to raise labor productivity.

This, he said, would help ensure more consistent real income growth and a more balanced economy.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny