Kazakhstan reports sharp surge in game console exports
Between January and August, Kazakhstan’s game console exports rose 5.5-fold year-on-year to $2.1 million. According to trade analyst Yernar Serik, who runs the TradeReport channel on Telegram, most of these shipments went to Russia and Belarus.
The foreign trade expert noted that in the first eight months of the year, Kazakhstan exported more consoles than in all of 2025. As a result, Kazakhstan’s console exports totaled 31,100 units ($2.1 million), compared with 12,700 units ($380,000) a year earlier.
Russia accounted for 85% of shipments ($1.77 million), while Belarus received another 11%. The bulk of these exports occurred during the three summer months. Most of the exported items were relatively inexpensive gaming devices, priced at $67 each. Additionally, 836 consoles sold at $466 per unit. This aligns with the cost of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, although retail prices vary by market.
Kazakhstan does not manufacture any of these consoles; it simply re-exports them. Over the first eight months of the year, the country imported $6.5 million worth of game consoles—twice as much as last year. China accounted for 74% of these imports, with the remainder coming from other Asian countries.
«Most likely, the growth in exports is linked to an expansion in the re-export of game consoles, primarily to Russia. However, there is another hypothesis: some shipments that previously moved through informal channels are now being captured in official statistics. Therefore, a fivefold increase in monetary terms does not necessarily imply a corresponding rise in actual trade flows,» TradeReport’s author said.
Whichever hypothesis is correct, Kazakhstan may still benefit from such re-exports, as this model generates value through trade, logistics, and intermediary services rather than industrial production.
Meanwhile, the U.S. reported a drop in PlayStation and Xbox sales amid rising prices and component shortages. Consoles sold at $466 per unit. This aligns with the cost of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, although prices for these popular devices elsewhere are somewhat higher.
