Ranking of Kazakhstan’s regions by manufacturing investment

Manufacturing investment in Kazakhstan continued to gain momentum in the first half of 2026. Capital investment reached KZT 1.43 trillion, up 33.3% from the same period a year earlier.

In just six months, the sector has already absorbed 48% of the total investment recorded in all of 2025, up from 38% a month earlier. Compared with January-May (KZT 1.055 trillion), annual growth accelerated from 29.2% to 33.3%. June alone accounted for roughly KZT 374.3 billion in manufacturing investment, exceeding May’s KZT 339.6 billion.

Growth remains highly concentrated and has become even more so. The top four regions – Zhambyl, Atyrau, Almaty and Karaganda – now account for 54.9% of all manufacturing investment, up from 53.4% a month earlier. A broad-based industrial expansion has yet to emerge.

1.⁠ ⁠Zhambyl Region remains the undisputed leader with KZT 300.1 billion, representing 21.0% of the national total. Investment surged 236.7% year-on-year, and the region has already reached 99% of its entire 2025 investment volume in just six months.

This points to an exceptionally strong peak in the investment cycle. The region could surpass last year’s full-year total as early as July. The main driver is Fufeng Group’s approximately $800 million deep corn processing project in Shu District. Construction is also progressing on EuroChem’s $1 billionsulfuric acid plant in Sarysu District.

2.⁠ ⁠Atyrau Region climbed from third to second place with KZT 193.1 billion, accounting for 13.5% of the national total. Investment jumped 273.0% year-on-year, while the region has already reached 59% of its 2025 level, compared with just 26% a month earlier.

June alone brought roughly KZT 84.1 billion, the largest monthly increase among all regions. The main contributor appears to be the active construction phase of the Sillenopolyethylene plant, a 1.25 million-tonne-per-year project with investment exceeding $7 billion.

3.⁠ ⁠Almaty Region slipped from second to third place with KZT 162.2 billion, or 11.3% of the national total. Investment rose 160.8% year-on-year, reaching 57% of its 2025 level.

The region remains one of Kazakhstan’s key industrial growth engines, although its pace has fallen behind Atyrau. Construction continues on Carlsberg Kazakhstan’s $344 million PepsiCo beverage plant in Ili District.

4.⁠ ⁠Karaganda Region retained fourth place with KZT 130.0 billion, accounting for 9.1% of the total. Investment remained below last year’s level at 77.5%, although the decline moderated from 70.1% a month earlier. The region has reached 29% of its 2025 investment volume.

Karaganda continues to rank highly largely because of its established industrial base rather than new investment momentum. Investment in Temirtau’s steel sector has weakened, while spending has increased on non-metallic mineral products in Saran, where TechnoNICOL is building its third plant worth KZT 55 billion.

5.⁠ ⁠Pavlodar Region held fifth place with KZT 108.9 billion, representing 7.6% of the total. For the first time in several months, investment returned to growth, reaching 105.7% of last year’s level, compared with 90.7% a month earlier. The region has reached 37% of its 2025 total.

This marks a notable turnaround. After relying primarily on the scale of its industrial base, Pavlodar has posted its first year-on-year increase in several months.

6.⁠ ⁠Kostanay Region moved up from seventh to sixth place with KZT 85.0 billion, accounting for 5.9% of total investment. Investment increased 117.8% year-on-year after declining a month earlier. The region has already reached 40% of its 2025 level.

The rebound suggests that May’s weakness was likely temporary, following an unusually strong April. The region’s key investment areas remain automotive manufacturing and metallurgy, concentrated in the Kostanay Industrial Zone.

7.⁠ ⁠Aktobe Region slipped from sixth to seventh place with KZT 80.7 billion, or 5.6% of the total. Cumulative growth slowed to 144.4% year-on-year from 445.5% in May as the low-base effect faded. Nevertheless, the region has already reached 106% of its entire 2025 investment volume, surpassing last year’s total in just six months.

June investment amounted to only KZT 13.1 billion, well below May’s increase of around KZT 40 billion. This suggests that the investment peak linked to the West China Cement and QazCem Industries/Sinoma Cement projects has likely passed, with future growth expected to normalize.

8.⁠ ⁠Turkistan Region climbed from ninth to eighth place with KZT 65.4 billion, accounting for 4.6% of total investment. Investment remained below last year’s level at 84.1%, while reaching 38% of its 2025 total.

The region continues to maintain a solid cumulative investment volume, but momentum remains weaker than a year ago. Manufacturing investment is spread across food processing, chemicals and other industries.

9.⁠ ⁠Astana dropped from eighth to ninth place with KZT 56.2 billion, representing 3.9% of total investment. Year-on-year growth reached 298.2%, the highest among the top ten regions. The capital has already exceeded its entire 2025 investment volume, reaching 122% of last year’s total.

However, June investment increased by only around KZT 7.0 billion, far below May’s surge. Despite posting the strongest growth rate in the top ten, Astana’s overall investment volume remains relatively modest, allowing larger industrial regions to move ahead. The unusually strong investment in food manufacturing in the Yesil District also continues to stand out for a predominantly administrative and business center and still warrants project-level verification.

10.⁠ ⁠Akmola Region rounded out the top ten with KZT 40.7 billion, accounting for 2.8% of total investment. Investment increased 182.7% year-on-year, while reaching 56% of its 2025 level.

The region maintained its strong momentum while holding its position. As in several other regions, growth appears to be driven by a limited number of major projects rather than a broad industrial base.

Below-average performers

This group now includes Mangystau Region, East Kazakhstan Region, Shymkent, North Kazakhstan Region and Almaty City. The biggest surprise of the month was Mangystau Region, which jumped from 16th to 11th place with KZT 34.9 billion, accounting for 2.4% of total investment. Year-on-year performance remained weak at 67.9%, but June alone brought roughly KZT 20.1 billion, a sharp increase for a region that had ranked among the weakest performers in recent months. For a resource-rich region, this could be an early indication that hydrocarbon processing is beginning to move from plans to execution, although it is still too early to draw firm conclusions.

East Kazakhstan Region remained in 12th place with KZT 34.8 billion, while investment reached only 69.0% of last year’s level. Shymkent dropped from 11th to 13th place with KZT 33.5 billion, representing 2.3% of the national total. Despite the decline in ranking, investment still increased 121.1% year-on-year. North Kazakhstan Region slipped one position to 14th place with KZT 25.7 billion, or 1.8% of total investment. Growth was virtually flat at 95.4% of last year’s level.

Almaty City continues to lag as a manufacturing hub. Investment totaled just KZT 22.8 billion, accounting for 1.6%of the national total, while reaching only 59.6% of last year’s level. Kazakhstan’s largest city remains far from being a major destination for manufacturing investment.

Bottom performers

The bottom of the ranking includes Abai Region, West Kazakhstan Region, Kyzylorda Region, Zhetisu Region and Ulytau Region. Abai Region moved up one position with KZT 18.6 billion, representing 1.3% of the total, although investment remained at 89.1% of last year’s level. West Kazakhstan Region, by contrast, fell from 15th to 17th place with KZT 16.5 billion. Although investment increased 141.2% year-on-year, June added only around KZT 1.3 billion, reinforcing the view that the earlier spike was largely a one-off.

Kyzylorda Region attracted KZT 12.3 billion, Zhetisu RegionKZT 5.1 billion, and Ulytau Region just KZT 2.9 billion. The latter two accounted for only 0.4% and 0.2% of Kazakhstan’s total manufacturing investment, respectively.

The overall picture for January-June is encouraging. Manufacturing investment continued to accelerate, surpassing KZT 1.43 trillion. Growth strengthened to 33.3%, up from 29.2% a month earlier, suggesting that the acceleration is not a one-off event. Major projects are steadily moving from construction into the capital deployment phase.

Growth has become even more concentrated, with the top four regions accounting for 54.9% of all manufacturing investment. However, this remains largely the result of a handful of flagship projects rather than a broad-based industrial expansion.

The main drivers remain unchanged. Chinese investmentcontinues to support growth through Fufeng in Zhambyl Region and cement projects in Aktobe Region. Russian investors are behind EuroChem and TechnoNICOL, while Carlsberg/PepsiCo remains a key contributor in Almaty Region. June also saw a major contribution from the Sillenoproject in Atyrau Region, lifting the region to second place in the rankings. Mangystau Region also deserves close attention, as June’s sharp increase still appears temporary but could mark the beginning of a more meaningful shift.

As was already evident a month ago, every region would benefit from developing its own flagship industrial projects, similar to those now driving growth in Zhambyl, Atyrau and Almaty. Only then will manufacturing investment become less dependent on isolated spikes and evolve into a truly broad-based industrial expansion.