According to a Demoscope survey, 71% of Kazakhstanis say they need large-scale changes in their lives, while another 13% believe minor adjustments would be enough to improve their situation. Only 10% of residents are satisfied with everything in the country and would not change anything.
Interestingly, despite the strong demand for change, trust in the authorities remains relatively high. Since 2023, respondents’ trust in the government has risen by 20%. Currently, 61% of Kazakhstanis trust the president, about half trust local administrations, and 47% trust the cabinet. At the same time, 17% do not trust the president and about a third of respondents do not trust local administrations or the cabinet. Almost half of Kazakhstanis (46%) trust the security forces, while 32% say they feel unsafe around them.
At what age do Kazakhstanis least trust the authorities?
A significant share of respondents (20% to 28%) were reluctant to discuss their level of trust in the government, which may indicate self-censorship. Another interesting pattern noted by researchers is that the more people trust the government, the more they are willing to criticize it.
«Among respondents who believe it is completely safe to criticize the government, the level of trust in the president reaches 83.2%, compared to an average of 61.1%. Among those who consider criticism dangerous, the level of trust in the president is significantly lower, at 56.1%,» the study finds.
Support for the government varies significantly by age: young people aged 18 to 29 are more optimistic (56%), while those aged 50 to 59 are the most critical (39%).
