The Minister of National Economy, Nurlan Baibazarov, announced during a government meeting on March 12th that Kazakhstan's economy has grown by 4.2% since the beginning of the year, accelerating from 3.9% in January. He highlighted a decrease in housing construction in Almaty and other regions.
Baibazarov mentioned a positive trend in the real sector, with a 5.1% growth in the sector and 3.5% growth in services. Industries showing the highest growth include construction, information and communication, transportation and storage, and manufacturing. Investment in fixed capital has surged by 7.9%, up from 0.6% in January.
The manufacturing industry has shown accelerated growth, with a 7.4% increase in production. Sub-sectors such as machinery manufacturing saw a 23% growth, automotive manufacturing 21%, and electrical equipment production 45%.
Other sectors experiencing growth include metallurgy production by 11%, chemical industry by 25%, metal products by 24%, building materials by 1.4%, light industry by 2.3%, and furniture by 23%. Mining production increased by 1.9%, with metal ore extraction up by 7.2%, gas by 1.2%, oil by 0.4%, and other minerals by 2.9%, while coal extraction decreased by 4.1%.
However, Baibazarov noted a significant decline in housing construction in Ulytau, Mangystau, and Atyrau regions, as well as in Almaty. In February, the Vice Minister of National Economy, Timur Zhaksylykov, commented on a World Bank report stating that the decade from 2012 to 2022 is considered a lost one for the country's economy.
