Kazakhstan reports growth in imports from Russia

According to Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics, the country’s imports from Russia have been growing. The agency reported $14.3 billion in imports over the period from January to October 2024, marking a 5.2% year-on-year increase from $13.6 billion.

Kazakhstan imports the following commodities from Russia:

• Products of animal and vegetable origin, prepared foods: $2.7 billion;
• Mineral products, including fuel: $1.6 billion;
• Products of the chemical industry, including rubber and plastic: $2.4 billion;
• Metals and products from them: $2.8 billion;
• Machinery, equipment, vehicles and devices: $2.5 billion.

All commodity groups have seen an increase in imports, except for machinery and equipment.

At the same time, Kazakhstan’s exports to Russia fell by 10.7%, from $8.4 billion to $7.5 billion. Russia mainly imports chemical products ($2.2 billion), metals ($1.5 billion) and machinery and equipment ($1.6 billion).

Kazakhstan’s external trade turnover from January to October totaled $116 billion, with $68.4 billion of exports (a 5.1% increase year-on-year) and $48.4 billion of imports (a 3.3% decrease year-on-year).

Russia accounts for nearly one-third of Kazakhstan’s total imports. Other major import partners of Kazakhstan include China (25.5%), Germany (4.9%), the U.S. (3.9%), France (3.2%) and South Korea (3.1%).

Kazakhstan’s exports primarily go to Italy (24%), China (17.9%), Russia (11%), the Netherlands (6.6%), France (4.7%) and Turkey (4.1%).