Kazakhstan reported an annual inflation rate of 8.9% in January, which is 0.3 percentage points (p.p.) higher than in December. The monthly price increase totaled 1.1%, reflecting a 0.2-p.p. rise compared to the previous month, according to Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics.
The highest inflation rates are observed in 12 out of 20 regions, including the city of Astana (11.2%), the Karaganda region (9.9%), the West Kazakhstan region (9.7%) and the North Kazakhstan region (9.6%). In turn, the Almaty (6.6%), Turkestan (7.5%) and Zhambyl (7.6%) regions, alongside the city of Shymkent (7.4%), experienced rates below the national average.
Service prices rose by 13.8%, up from December’s 13.3%. A similar trend could be observed for groceries, with their prices increasing by 5.8% compared to 5.3% in December. However, non-food product prices went up less significantly, seeing a rise of 8.4%, compared to an 8.3% increase in December. Over the month, the price level for groceries shot up by 1.4%, 1.1% for services, and 0.6% for non-food products.
In the service category on an annual basis, tariffs for cold water and wastewater disposal saw the highest increases, rising by 43.2% and 26.1%, respectively. Central heating soared by 25%, hot water supply by 21.3%, electricity by 19%, gas by 12% and garbage collection by 10.3%. Among other commonly used services, prices increased for leisure activities (25%), telecom services (17%), healthcare and hairdressing (12%), car repairs (11.4%) and food services (11%). Travel and commuting also became more expensive, with train tickets increasing by 18.6%, city bus fares rising by 10.5% and flights up by 7.2%. Rental fees for housing also rose by 15.3%.
In the non-food product category, the highest price increases were observed in audiovisual equipment (41.5%), jewelry and watches (25%), and cars assembled in Kazakhstan (23%). The smallest increases were recorded for pharmaceutical products and black coal, both rising by 8.6%, as well as bottled gas, which saw a 10.2% increase.
Among groceries, potatoes saw the largest price increase, rising by nearly two-thirds over the year. Onion prices rose by 25%, drinking water was up by 16.7% and tobacco increased by 14.6%. In contrast, buckwheat and carrots saw price declines of 21.6% and 5.3%, respectively.
Food products, soft drinks, and housing services contributed the most to the annual inflation rate, with food and drinks each adding 2.2 p.p. and services contributing 1.7 p.p. Price hikes for fruits and vegetables (+8.8%) and meat (+4.2%) each contributed 0.5 percentage points (p.p.) to inflation.
