Gap Between Real Scale of Shadow Employment and Official Data is Acknowledged by Kazakhstan Authorities

Finally, a significant discrepancy between official estimates of informal employment and administrative data has become evident for Kazakhstan’s authorities. They saw the scale of the country’s shadow labor market.
According to Minister of Labor and Social Protection Askarbek Yertaev, the actual number of people working outside the formal economy could be almost three times higher than official statistics indicate. The statement was made during a Senate meeting devoted to regional development issues.
As Yertaev noted, presenting the ministry’s assessment of informal employment, only 6.7 million out of a workforce of 9.7 million people made mandatory pension contributions at least once in 2025. Among them, 5.3 million were employees and 1.4 million were self-employed. It means that around 3 million people are left without recorded pension contributions.
The minister highlighted that the figure significantly exceeds official estimates. According to data from the National Statistics Bureau, about 12% of the employed population, or just over 1.1 million people, worked informally at the beginning of 2025.
As Yertaev said, it means that a substantial number of citizens either work informally or underreport their income.
Also, differences between statistical data and digital administrative records provide additional evidence of the scale of shadow employment. Notably, the Unified System for Accounting for Employment Contracts records contracts for only 4.1 million people. Meanwhile, official statistics show 7.1 million registered employees.
However, overdue debts and the freezing of bank accounts make people work informally, conceal income and avoid formal labor arrangements.
Due to that, the Ministry of Labor plans to expand the use of digital tools aimed at facilitating formal employment to solve the problem. AI solutions on the Electronic Labor Exchange portal are some of them.
So, the ministry promises that an AI-based system will automatically match job seekers with vacancies based on their education and professional background.
Also, the results of a pilot project on platform employment were presented by Zhanibek Nurzhanov, deputy Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance. As a result of the initiative implemented jointly with the Ministry of Labor more than 43,000 taxi drivers registrated themselves as individual entrepreneurs under a special tax regime.
Another step that should help bring more workers into the formal economy platforms is the integration of the State Revenue Committee’s information systems with 31 online platforms.
According to participants of the Senate discussion, it is necessary to reinforce measures and policies that encourage voluntary legalization of labor relations to reduce shadow employment.

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