On approval of the Comprehensive Plan to increase Household Incomes for 2026-2029

Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 10, 2026 No. 485

THE Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan DECIDES:

     1. To approve the attached Comprehensive Plan to increase Household Incomes for 2026-2029 (hereinafter referred to as the Comprehensive Plan).

     2. Invalidate them:

     1) Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 14, 2022 No. 218 "On approval of the Comprehensive Plan "Program for increasing household incomes until 2029";

     2) Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated March 28, 2023 No. 246 "On Amendments to Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 14, 2022 No. 218 "On Approval of the Comprehensive Plan "Program for increasing household Incomes until 2025".

     3. Central and local executive bodies, state bodies directly subordinate and accountable to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (as agreed), as well as other organizations (as agreed) responsible for the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan:

     1) to ensure the timely implementation of the measures provided for in the Comprehensive Plan;

     2) on a semi-annual basis, before the 5th day of the month following the reporting half-year, submit to the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan information on the progress of the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan.

     4. The Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan on a semi-annual basis, before the 15th day of the month following the reporting half-year, to submit to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan summary information on the progress of the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan.

     5. Control over the implementation of this resolution is entrusted to the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

     6. This resolution shall enter into force from the date of its signing.

Комплексный планпо повышению доходов населения на 2026 – 2029 годы

      Паспорт

Скачать

Analysis of the current situation

1. Analysis of the labor income of the population

     According to preliminary state statistics data, in January – December 2025, Kazakhstan's gross domestic product increased by 6.5% in annual terms. At the same time, the average economic productivity is 14.8 million tenge per employee with an average salary of about 5.5 million tenge per year. However, about 31% (in 2023 – 30.8%; in 2024 – 31%; in 2025 – 30.6%) of the added value created is transformed into the official wage fund, the rest is accumulated in profit, rent, depreciation and fiscal withdrawals.

     In Kazakhstan, for the first quarter of 2026, the average monthly nominal salary in all sectors was 461486 tenge, the median was 331527 tenge, the gap was 129959 tenge (39.2%), which indicates the concentration of high incomes among a limited group of employees.

     By the end of 2025, the highest indicators were noted in the mining industry: the average salary is 940,515 tenge, the median is 599,696 tenge, while the main contribution to gross value added (hereinafter referred to as GVA) is formed by this sector (26.6%), where labor productivity reaches 64.7 million tenge, 4.4 times higher than the national average. The economic effect of industrial growth is concentrated mainly in capital and rent, especially in extractive industries with limited employment.

     Agriculture, on the contrary, is characterized by high labor intensity, low productivity (6.2 million tenge) and wages (319.5 thousand tenge), which perpetuates low incomes in agricultural regions.

     The maximum gap between the average and median wages was recorded in the information and communications sector (almost 2 times), as well as in the areas of financial and insurance activities, administrative services, professional, scientific and technical activities, which indicates a significant income differentiation between senior management and ordinary employees.

     The minimum gap is observed in education (14.5%), healthcare and social services (21.8%), which is typical for budget areas with a regulated tariff schedule. Low income differentiation is also noted in the areas of water supply (21.3%) and energy (27.3%) due to government regulation of tariffs.

     In trade, which provides 19.9% of GVA, the official wage level remains relatively low.

     A significant part of the income in trade is generated in the informal sector through gray payments, self-employment and income of individual entrepreneurs, which can underestimate the official wage level with high economic activity. As a result, the sector concentrates GVA and employment, but does not sufficiently transfer the economic result to the official wage fund, exacerbating the structural gap in the labor market.

     The regional cross-section reinforces the identified imbalances. The largest gap between average and median wages is observed in the regions with raw materials specialization – Atyrau and Mangystau regions, 65.1% and 67.3%, respectively. This is due to the high income differentiation of high-paying jobs in the oil and gas sector, mainly in large corporations and contractors. At the same time, the industry's impact on wage growth in other industries remains limited.

     A significant gap between the average and median wages was also recorded in the cities of Astana and Almaty, 54.1% and 46.3%, respectively. In these cities, a significant segment of highly qualified and well-paid employment is being formed in the fields of public administration, finance, consulting, IT, corporate governance and international business. At the same time, large-scale employment remains in the service sector, trade, transport and catering with lower wages.

     High gap values are also typical for the industrial regions of Ulytau region (133760 tenge, 29.2%), West Kazakhstan region (98103 tenge, 35.9%), Aktobe region (91671 tenge, 29.7%) and Abai region (89156 tenge, 30.8%). In regions with predominantly agricultural and service specialization (Turkestan, Zhambyl and Almaty regions), the gap is significantly lower due to a more homogeneous employment structure and similar wage levels.

     In 2019-2025, Kazakhstan implemented a policy of phased salary increases for civil servants, including teachers, medical professionals, cultural workers, social workers and other categories of the public sector, affecting about 1.2 million people. As a result of the policy, in 2019, wages were increased by 30% for low-paid support and core personnel, as well as some public sector management personnel. From 2020 to 2023, wages increased by 2 times due to annual indexation by 25%. To date, the average salary of a secondary school teacher is 398 thousand tenge. In 2023, additional allowances will also be introduced for preschool teachers and teachers of technical and vocational education.

     In 2020, the remuneration of cultural workers has been increased: for republican organizations by 50%, for organizations at the local level – by 35%.

     From 2021 to 2023, salaries of medical workers were gradually increased: for doctors by 30% and for secondary medical personnel by 20% annually, in 2024 – for non-medical workers by 18%. In the same period, the wages of social workers were increased by 2 times. From 2022 to 2025, salaries for other categories of civil servants have been increased by 2 times: accountants, economists, lawyers, archivists, librarians, etc.

     Despite the increase in salaries for civil servants, the impact of previously implemented measures is gradually decreasing in the context of inflation and rising living costs, as a result of which there remains a need for further wage increases for certain categories of public sector workers.

     The general current model of economic growth forms a stable structural gap. In Kazakhstan, there is still a high differentiation of labor income between industries, regions and categories of workers.

     The comprehensive Plan provides for measures to reduce wage differentiation, as well as a general increase in both the minimum wage and wages in certain sectors.

     Government support for entrepreneurship

     Government support for entrepreneurship has a positive impact on the growth of business income, tax revenues and payroll. The most effective financial measures are subsidizing micro–loans from microfinance organizations (hereinafter referred to as MFIs), grant and leasing financing, which have achieved high levels of fulfillment of obligations to the state.:

     in terms of tax revenue growth: subsidizing micro–loans to MFIs – 199%, grants – 96%, leasing - 257 %;

     in terms of income growth: subsidizing micro–loans to MFIs – 230%, grants – 400%, leasing - 213 %;

     in terms of the increase in the number of employees: subsidizing micro-loans to MFIs – 19%, grants – 38%, leasing – 25 %;

     on labor productivity growth: subsidizing micro–loans to MFIs - 348%, grants – 157%, leasing – 270 %;

     on the growth of the wage fund: subsidizing of micro–loans to MFIs - 379%, grants – 231%, leasing – 144%.

     At the same time, the effect on employment and productivity is heterogeneous, and low wages remain in a number of industries, including the agro–industrial complex (hereinafter referred to as the agro-industrial complex).

     At the same time, businesses must fulfill not only tax obligations related to receiving government support, but also obligations to improve working conditions and increase employee incomes.

     In this regard, it is advisable to increase the targeting of support measures and the introduction of business counter-commitments, including wage increases, the creation of high-quality jobs, training, and increased productivity. Additionally, it is necessary to ensure the digital integration of monitoring services (Baqylauda) to increase transparency, control and effectiveness of support measures.

     Proposed mechanisms:

     the establishment of a mandatory minimum median wage for recipients of subsidies (for example, not lower than the median for the region or not lower than the minimum wage ratio);

     gradual increase in median wages as a condition for maintaining access to subsidies and concessional financing;

     monitoring the fulfillment of obligations based on the median, not the average salary.

2. Labor productivity and workplace quality

     The result of economic growth was a positive increase in labor productivity, which, according to preliminary data for 2025, reached 14.8 million tenge per employee, or 28.4 thousand US dollars, with nominal growth in tenge equivalent by 15.1% compared to 2024 and in dollar terms by 3.6% compared to the previous period.

     For comparison, labor productivity in the countries of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the EU) by the end of 2024 amounted to 86.7 thousand US dollars per employee, which is 3.2 times higher than the level of Kazakhstan, but at the same time it is the minimum gap over the past ten years.

In the mining industry, productivity is 123.1 thousand US dollars. While in the manufacturing industry, the gap is significantly weaker: 57.7 thousand US dollars in Kazakhstan versus 106.4 thousand US dollars in the EU, or 1.9 times lower than the EU level. This ratio is the lowest in the last ten years. For comparison, in 2016, the backlog in the manufacturing sector reached 2.9 times. A significant part of the productivity of Kazakhstan's manufacturing industry is generated by metallurgy, while its share in the structure of the EU manufacturing sector is significantly lower.

     In Kazakhstan's agriculture, labor productivity in 2024 amounted to 10.8 thousand US dollars per employee, while in the EU countries the figure reached 48.3 thousand US dollars, which corresponds to a lag of 4.5 times.

     According to official state statistics, employment in agriculture amounted to 10.2% in the first quarter of 2026, which positions it as one of the sectors providing employment for the population. At the same time, a significant part of the villagers are formally listed as "self-employed", but actually do not have a stable income outside the season. With this in mind, the real level of underemployment in rural areas is estimated by experts to be significantly higher, given that the number of self-employed in rural areas is about 1 million people, or 31% of the employed population in rural areas. And official seasonal employment and employment under a fixed-term contract in 2025 in rural areas amounted to about 6%.

     According to a number of studies in the field of development economics, at certain stages of the transition from a low to a higher income level, there may be an increase in income differentiation of the population. This logic is close to the hypothesis that, in the process of structural transformation of the economy, the benefits of productivity growth, investment, and the development of new industries may initially be unevenly distributed among sectors, regions, and population groups. However, this process is not a universal or automatically guaranteed scenario. The dynamics of inequality largely depend on the availability of education, employment structure, quality of jobs, fiscal mechanisms and measures to expand economic opportunities for the population.

     Thus, the current growth structure limits the potential for further convergence with developed economies. In this regard, sustained productivity gains in the medium and long term require expanding sources of growth through tradable and non-resource industries that can ensure a more even spread of growth effects across the economy.

     A significant problem also remains the high proportion of unstable and low-productivity employment, especially in rural areas, where a significant part of the population depends on seasonal work and does not have a stable source of income during the year. An additional factor is the high proportion of the self-employed, a significant part of which actually belongs to the category of hidden underemployment.

     In this regard, the urgent task of state policy is to create high-quality jobs that ensure stable employment, decent wages, social security and safe working conditions, primarily in non-primary and high-performance sectors of the economy.

     According to the definition of the Labor Market Development Concept for 2024-2029, a "quality workplace" is characterized as follows:

     permanent employment, that is, the employee must work for 6 months or more.;

     the level of remuneration is equal to or greater than the median salary in the region (to absorb the shocks in the economy, the median salary in the regions is subject to revision every 6 months);

     provision of a social protection package – the availability of monthly mandatory pension contributions, social contributions to the State Social Insurance Fund and the State Medical Insurance Fund, the availability of paid leave;

     safe working environment (to assess the safety of an enterprise's working environment, a methodology is used to compare the number of occupational injuries and deaths relative to jobs in this industry).

3. Human capital development and employment enhancement

     The development of Kazakhstan's human capital demonstrates generally positive dynamics, which is reflected both in international indicators of human development and in the structure of the national workforce. According to the Human Development Index (HDI) UNDP Kazakhstan remains in the group of countries with a very high level of human development, ranking 60th out of 193 countries and territories with an HDI of 0.837, which means an increase of 21.5% compared to 1990. At the same time, a decrease in the HDI adjusted for inequality to 0.766 or a loss of 8.5% shows that inequality continues to reduce the real level of human development. Against this background, the age structure of Kazakhstan's workforce remains relatively stable, with the main burden falling on the middle–aged population: 35-44 years (28%), the second group of 45-54 years (20%), the third group of 29-34 years (20% – 19%), (Figure 1).

     Figure 1. Age structure of Kazakhstan's workforce

     Source: BNS ASPiR

     Overall, Kazakhstan's progress in human development is supported by a relatively strong workforce base, but persistent inequality and structural changes in the age composition of the workforce indicate the need for more sustainable and skills-oriented policies, especially in the context of slowing global development, demographic shifts, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in future employment and productivity.

     As of 2025, 28% of the population of Kazakhstan is between the ages of 15 and 35, as well as children and adolescents – 29% (0-18 years old). This structure forms a significant demographic potential for sustainable socio-economic development of the country.

     The key challenges remain the inadequacy of skills to the requirements of the modern economy and high barriers to entry into the labor market. Educational programs do not always adapt quickly to digitalization, automation, and the spread of artificial intelligence. The global gap between the skills of youth and the needs of employers has been one of the factors contributing to a 12% decline in youth employment over the past two decades.1 In addition, employers often prefer professionals with work experience. According to a study based on a survey of 11,250 workers and an analysis of 126 million vacancies worldwide, the number of entry-level vacancies has decreased by 29 percentage points since January 2024.2 This means that even if there is a shortage of staff, it becomes more difficult for young professionals to find their first job, as the number of starting positions decreases and competition for them increases.

     According to the World Economic Forum, in addition to digital competencies, special attention is now being paid to leadership skills, critical thinking, environmental ("green") competencies and sustainability. According to forecasts, by 2030, about 22% of jobs in the world will undergo transformation or disappear. A joint report by the World Economic Forum and PwC notes that investments in professional development can increase global gross domestic product (hereinafter – GDP) by 6.5 trillion US dollars by 2030, which is 1.2 trillion US dollars more compared to the baseline development scenario. However, according to the Career Enbek platform, only 4-5% of Kazakhstanis take professional or developmental courses. While in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (hereinafter – the OECD), this indicator is 40%.

     The analysis confirms the importance of taking into account the structural balance in the country's labor resources, in particular for more sustainable management of the younger generation and employees aged 50 and over. Measures to mitigate this trend are personnel training, taking into account the dynamics of labor market needs.

     Employment structure. In 2022-2025, the employment structure in Kazakhstan was characterized by high stability and relatively slow structural changes. The main share of employed traditionally falls on trade (the average for the period is 16.7%), education (13%), industry (12.5%) and agriculture (12.1%), reflecting a mixed employment structure. The share of people employed in education gradually increased from 12.7% to 13.2%, while in agriculture it decreased from 12.4% to 10.6%.

     There is a pronounced gender and territorial differentiation in the labor market. Men are predominantly employed in industry, agriculture, construction, and transportation, while women are employed in education, commerce, and healthcare. In urban areas, employment is concentrated mainly in trade (19.4%) and industry (14.3%), while in rural areas it is concentrated in agriculture, despite a gradual decrease in its share from 26.4% in 2022 to 22.2% in 2025, and trade (12.4%). At the same time, there is an increase in the share of education from 15.4% to 16.1% in rural employment.

     The age structure of employment remains stable: young people are mainly concentrated in trade and agriculture due to the low entry threshold and high flexibility of these areas, while older age groups are in agriculture. This structure is interrelated with the level of education of the employed population. For example, agriculture has one of the lowest proportions of workers with higher and postgraduate education — 26%, while the largest proportion of those employed without education is 22%. At the same time, the most highly qualified sectors are financial and insurance activities (73%) and professional and scientific activities (69%).

Скачать

Скачать

      Примечание: расшифровка аббревиатур:

Constitution Law Code Standard Decree Order Decision Resolution Lawyer Almaty Lawyer Legal service Legal advice Civil Criminal Administrative cases Disputes Defense Arbitration Law Company Kazakhstan Law Firm Court Cases Declaration Decree Order Resolution Decision Report Conclusion Statement Conclusion Convention Contract Memorandum Methodology Norms Note Rules Program Charter Charter Article Commentary Resolution Regulations Protocol Draft Program Rules Messages