Trade accounts for one fifth of GDP structure in Kazakhstan

At the regular meeting of the headquarters to ensure economic growth under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan - Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin considered opportunities to increase trade volumes, indicators of economic development of Shymkent and Zhambyl region and issues hindering the implementation of investment projects, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.

Trade ranks second in Kazakhstan's economy, its share in the GDP structure is 19.1 per cent. In the first two months of 2025, the index of physical volume of trade amounted to 6% with the plan of 4.7%. The largest contribution to the IFO of trade was provided by five regions, which account for 73.6% of the total volume of trade turnover (in January-February this year - 3.5 trillion tenge). These are Almaty, Astana, Aktobe, Atyrau and Karaganda regions.

Wholesale trade grew by 6.6% (6.1 trillion tenge) due to oil products, automotive equipment, pharmaceutical products, grain, sugar and beverages, while retail trade grew by 4.7% (2.8 trillion tenge) due to the growth of oil products, construction materials, machinery and equipment, confectionery, meat and fish products.

According to First Deputy Minister of Trade and Integration Aizhan Bizhanova, micro and small businesses (99%) are predominantly involved in trade, accounting for 66% of the total turnover. To ensure growth of the index of physical volume of trade at the level of 113% in 2025 it is necessary to achieve a turnover of 87 trillion tenge (in 2024 - 70 trillion tenge). Predominantly at the expense of wholesale trade, which accounts for 67.5% of the industry. This will be ensured by increasing the production of crude oil and its refining, gas, development of the manufacturing industry and agro-industrial complex, expansion of household appliances, and growth in the production of pharmaceutical products.

In order to increase non-resource exports, work is underway to expand the geography of export supplies to China, Russia, Uzbekistan, UAE, Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan and Pakistan. For sustainable presence in these markets it is planned to open additional 10 trading houses and partner offices. Integration into international e-commerce through international marketplaces is underway.

Retail sales account for 32.5 per cent of turnover. In 2025, retail sales are forecast to reach 28 trillion tenge (+5.5 trillion tenge by 2024). To stimulate the retail market, Digital Bazar projects are being implemented in cooperation with Halyk Bank, the list of labelled goods is being expanded, and consumer lending is being developed.

Additionally, measures were discussed to increase the pace of e-commerce in Kazakhstan, which is showing strong growth. According to preliminary data, in 2024, its volume totalled 3.2 trillion tenge, increasing by 14%. Further growth to 4.5 trillion tenge is expected in 2025. According to operational data, in January-February this year, turnover on the largest marketplaces, covering 85% of the market, reached 0.7 trillion tenge. To expand e-commerce opportunities, the issue of equating Instagram sales with e-commerce is being worked on. Also, together with Kaspi.kz and Kazpost, a B2B platform for Kazakhstani and Chinese businessmen has been launched in test mode to increase wholesale trade, where the main categories of goods will be household appliances, household goods and light industry products. The implementation of these initiatives will further increase the country's trade turnover by an additional 1 trillion tenge annually.

Shymkent has recorded strong growth in key economic indicators in the first two months of this year. The volume of investments totalled 102.1 billion tenge, up 68% compared to the same period last year, industry - 195.5 billion tenge (up 13.4%), agriculture (7.4 billion tenge, up 2.7%). Short-term economic growth reached 15.7 per cent, placing the city among the top three in the country. The region's investment portfolio for 2025-2029 consists of 190 investment projects worth 1.9 trillion tenge with the creation of 25,900 new jobs. In 2025 it is planned to launch 51 projects worth 181.9 billion tenge.

Akim of Shymkent city. Shymkent Gabit Syzdykbekov said that in 2024, 19 enterprises of the city produced pharmaceutical products worth 61.1 billion tenge, which is 35.7% of the total production of the pharmaceutical industry in the country. However, Dentafill Kazakhstan's products require registration with the Ministry of Healthcare to enter the market, a process that takes up to 270 days. Another company is experiencing similar difficulties, having submitted 75 applications for drug registration in 2024 and planning to submit another 35 in 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Healthcare to speed up the approval procedures for all the applied drugs so that the enterprises can start generating revenue and contribute to the region's GVA.

First Deputy Akim of Zhambyl region Nurzhan Kalenderov said that for two months of this year the economic growth of the region was 12.5%. Industry grew by 21.6% (188 billion tenge), investment - by more than half (54.4% growth with a volume of 62 billion tenge), trade - by 1.9% (120.6 billion tenge). The pool of investment projects in the region includes 82 projects worth 3.6 trillion tenge, of which 30 projects worth 175.2 billion tenge are planned to be put into operation in 2025 with the creation of more than 1.1 thousand jobs.

The speaker also voiced problematic issues that hinder the implementation of some major projects. First of all - expansion of the list of activities of FEZ ‘Zhibek Zholy’ to include manufacturing industry. More than 15 projects are waiting to be included in the list. Another major investment project ‘Qazaq Soda’ LLP on the production of soda ash for launching in operation is waiting for the railway lines to the subzone for the supply of raw materials and shipment of finished products from the production site.

Deputy Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan by the end of April to amend the List of priority activities of special economic zones, as well as to assist in financing the construction of the necessary infrastructure for the enterprise for the production of soda ash.

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