The highest car ownership rate in Kazakhstan was found not in the largest cities, but in the Mangystau region. Almaty, Astana and Shymkent, on the contrary, ended up at the bottom of the ranking. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Ranking.kz.

As of the first months of 2026, 34.8% of Kazakh households own a passenger car. Over the year, the figure increased by 1.1%. That is, about one in three households in the country has a car.

Leaders and outsiders

The absolute leader was the Mangystau region, where 59.6% of households own a car. In other words, almost six out of ten families have a personal vehicle.

In total, above-average rates were recorded in ten regions of Kazakhstan.

Unexpectedly, the lowest rates were in the country's largest cities. The anti-leader was Shymkent, where only 26.3% of households have a car. Slightly higher were Almaty (27.6%) and Astana (27.7%).

Why are rates low in megacities?

At first glance, such data may seem illogical, because it is in megacities that the highest incomes are concentrated. Ranking.kz believes this may be due to the developed public transport, carsharing and taxi systems. In many cases, the need for a personal car is lower here than in the regions.

Difference between city and countryside

Among urban households, 30.6% own a car, while in rural areas this figure reaches 45%. The leaders among rural regions are:

  • 01Mangystau region
  • 02Atyrau region
  • 03West Kazakhstan region

Study specifics

At the same time, high car ownership does not mean that the region has the most modern vehicle fleet. The study only reflects the presence of passenger cars in households and does not take into account their age, condition, environmental friendliness, intensity of use, or quality of road infrastructure.

Therefore, the ranking rather shows the level of motorization of the population and lifestyle features in different regions, rather than the actual state of the vehicle fleet.

Earlier, Kursiv Avto reported that Kazakhs registered almost 148 thousand cars in one month, and the total number of passenger cars in the country exceeded 5 million.