Kazakhstan reports sharp increase in foreign businesses registered in the country

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Журналист
More than 45,000 have decided to work in the country

As of November 1, 2022, more than 45,800 foreign businesses were registered in Kazakhstan, a 42% increase from last year. About a third of them are companies from Russia.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, since 1991, when Kazakhstan became a fully independent state, the rate of foreign business registration has been about 2–14% on average. In 2010 and 2015, this rate dropped by 5-8% though.

This year everything has changed. In November, Kazakhstan’s authorities reported 13,600 more foreign-owned companies registered in the country, a 42% increase from last year.

These new businesses represent almost all industries. With 3,800 new foreign businesses (28%), the trade sector is the most popular. Currently, there are more than 17,900 foreign-owned companies in the sector. The service sector is also fast-growing. It showed more than twofold growth (4,400 businesses now against 1,900 businesses last year), especially in the construction industry (29%), information and communication services (twofold growth) and other services (69%).

In terms of the origin of new businesses in Kazakhstan, most of them came from Russia right after it received sanctions from Western countries due to the war the Kremlin has unleashed against Ukraine. For comparison, in January 2022 there were 11,500 Russian-owned businesses in Kazakhstan; now there are 17,100 such companies (49%). Among other countries where foreign businesses have come from are Uzbekistan (27%), China (10%) and Kyrgyzstan (7%). Concerning businesses from Western countries, no significant changes have been reported.

However, the statistical data shows that companies from the Netherlands and the U.K. have slightly reduced their presence in Kazakhstan.

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