Kazakhstan reveals its key trade partners

According to the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan, the country’s foreign trade turnover reached $66.8 billion in the first half of 2024, which is 2.1% lower than in the same period in 2023. 

Although Kazakhstan expanded exports by 2.1% to $39.3 billion, imports dropped by 7.6%, reaching $27.6 billion. 

Among Kazakhstan’s key trade partners are Italy (23.6%), China (18.6%), Russia (10.9%), the Netherlands (6%), France (5.5%) and Turkey (3.9%). The first three countries on the list account for more than half of Kazakhstan’s exports (53.1%). 

Kazakhstan primarily exports crude oil and oil products (55.9%), refined copper and unprocessed copper alloys (5.1%), radioactive elements and isotopes (4.6%), copper ores and concentrates (4.2%) and ferroalloys (2.9%). 

In turn, Kazakhstan imports various goods from Russia (28.6%), China (24.5%), Germany (5.1%), the U.S. (4.1%), South Korea (3.3%) and Turkey (3.2%). The first three countries supply Kazakhstan with more than half (58.2%) of all imported goods in value terms.

The country imports passenger cars (4%), pharmacy products (3.8%), aerial vehicles (3.1%), mobile phones (2.8%) and vehicle bodies (2%).

At the same time, external trade turnover with the Eurasian Economic Union member states declined by 10.4%, reaching $13.3 billion. Exports dropped by 18% to $4.8 billion, while imports reported a 5.4% decline to $8.4 billion. These changes can be explained by shrinking trade with Russia: Kazakhstan’s imports from Russia dropped by 19.8% and imports by 4.2%. The Russian Federation accounts for 91.3% of the entire external trade turnover among the EEU members states, followed by Kyrgyzstan (5.5%), Belarus (3.1%) and Armenia (0.1%).