In 2026, seven years have passed since Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took office as President of Kazakhstan. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.

During this period, Kazakhstan went through a number of serious challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, global inflation, a logistics crisis and geopolitical changes. Nevertheless, over these years there have been positive changes in the country's main socio-economic indicators. This was written by Ranking.kz.

Key changes between 2019 and 2026

  • 01The minimum wage rose from 42.5 thousand tenge to 85 thousand tenge, doubling.
  • 02The minimum basic pension rose from 16 thousand to 35.6 thousand tenge.
  • 03The minimum pension amount increased from 36.1 thousand to 69 thousand tenge.
  • 04The minimum subsistence level rose from 29.7 thousand to 50.9 thousand tenge.
  • 05GDP per capita grew from 715.5 thousand tenge to 1.66 million tenge, increasing 2.3 times.

According to the results of 2025, Kazakhstan's GDP reached 160 trillion tenge.

According to World Bank data, Kazakhstan entered the ranks of the world's 50 largest economies by GDP volume, rising to 48th place. In 2018, it was in 55th place.

Kazakhstan's total international reserves also grew. At the end of August 2026, their volume amounted to 70.6 billion dollars. This is 2.5 times more compared to the corresponding period of 2019.

Changes in the structure of the economy

In 2018–2025, the share of manufacturing, construction and the service sector in the GDP structure increased:

  • 01manufacturing – from 11.4% to 12.8%;
  • 02construction – from 5.3% to 6.2%;
  • 03the service sector – from 55.5% to 58%.

Meanwhile, the share of the mining industry decreased from 15% to 11.7%.

The share of non-resource exports reached a level of about 40% from 26%.

The share of small and medium-sized businesses in the economy also grew. If in 2018 the share of SMEs in GDP was 28.4%, then in 2025 it reached 40.9%. At the same time, the share of the shadow economy decreased from 27.02% to 15.69%.

International ratings

Kazakhstan's indicators in a number of international ratings also improved.

  • 01Moody’s: raised from Baa3 to Baa1.
  • 02S&P Global Ratings: raised one notch from the BBB level.
  • 03Fitch Ratings: remained at the BBB level unchanged.
  • 04In the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, Kazakhstan rose from 43rd place in 2022 to 38th place in 2026.
  • 05In the World Happiness Report, Kazakhstan rose from 50th place in 2019 to 33rd place in 2025.

Thus, since 2019, Kazakhstan's social indicators, as well as the volume of the economy, have increased, and in the structure of the economy the share of manufacturing, the service sector and SMEs has grown. At the same time, the share of non-resource exports increased, and the volume of the shadow economy decreased.