As of August 1, 2025, Kazakhstan has registered more than 2.35 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including almost 1.9 million individual entrepreneurs. According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the business sector continues to expand, led by trade, construction, and services.
Over the past decade, the number of registered legal entities in Kazakhstan has grown by nearly 49% – from 360,000 in 2015 to 547,700 in August 2025. More than 427,000 are actively operating.
The main driver of this growth has been small enterprises. On average, the number of legal entities increased by 4.5% annually, while small businesses grew by 4.6% each year.
Key Milestones
• 2015: 360,000 legal entities.
• 2020: 461,000 companies despite slower growth.
• 2024: 536,000 legal entities.
• 2025: 547,700 registered legal entities, with 427,000 active.
Economist Yerzhan Seilgazyn notes:
“Business activity is concentrated mainly in Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent, which together account for nearly 53% of all legal entities in the country. This reflects not only the concentration of capital but also the specifics of regulation.”
Analyst Rasul Smailov adds:
“Kazakhstan’s business structure remains unbalanced. 27% of companies are in trade, 13.4% in construction, and another 10% in services. This creates a dependency on consumer demand and government contracts.”
The largest share of SMEs are concentrated in:
• Trade and vehicle repair – more than 148,000 legal entitiesand 687,000 individual entrepreneurs.
• Construction – over 73,000 legal entities, making up 13.4% of all registered companies.
• Services – around 55,000 legal entities and 294,000 individual entrepreneurs.
The number of individual entrepreneurs rose by 5.9% year-on-year, while the number of active ones increased by 6%. Most of them work in trade, services, and agriculture.
Regional Business Landscape
• Almaty – 28.4% of all legal entities (155,600 companies).
• Astana – 19.6% (107,100).
• Shymkent – 5.4% (29,600).
The lowest figures are in Ulytau (0.5%), Zhetysu (1.6%), and Abai (1.6%) regions.
Experts believe that by the end of 2025, the number of active SMEs could surpass 2.2 million.
• Digitalization and regulatory changes are expected to drive diversification and reduce the heavy reliance on trade.
• Regional imbalances are likely to persist: Almaty and Astana will remain the business hubs, while smaller regions will lag behind.
• Improving the regulatory environment is seen as the key factor for sustainable growth.
Analyst Irada Kakharaman emphasizes:
“The main issue is the quality of the regulatory environment. If administrative barriers are reduced and procedures for businesses are simplified, growth will accelerate, and the share of the production sector will increase.”
The rising number of entrepreneurs highlights the resilience of Kazakhstan’s business sector. At the same time, structural imbalances remain: small businesses are still heavily concentrated in trade and services. The coming months will show whether the country can shift more decisively toward production and innovation.