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Kazakhstan’s sectoral gaps persist despite young workforce growth

Kazakhstan’s youth labor market is a crutial issue for the country’s ongoing economic transformation. Analysts from Finprom.kz report approximately 1.8 million young people aged 15 to 28 employed across the country in 2024 (0.6% increase compared to the previous year).
Almaty has the highest concentration of young workers (243,200 employed young people, 5% up from 2023). Turkestan region follows it. Opposingly, the lowest rate of youth employment is in the Ulytau, North Kazakhstan, and Zhetysu regions.
77.7% of the total number of employed youth (1.4 million) are salaried employees. Also, there are 331,900 young individual entrepreneurs, 58,300 self-employed workers, 2,700 founders or participants in economic partnerships, joint-stock companies, or cooperatives, and 2,400 engaged in private practice.
The number of professionals among employed young people is 424,400 (a 1.3% decrease from the previous year). Then follow service and sales workers (291,700), unskilled laborers (281,700), technical and support staff (195,100), and industrial, construction, and transport workers (142,600).
In industry sectors, youth primarily work in wholesale and retail trade, automotive repair, education, and agriculture, including forestry and fishing. Utilities (water and electricity supply) and real estate have the lowest rate of youth employment.
The number of unemployed individuals aged 15 to 28 decreased to 62,000 (by 6.7% from 2023) in 2024, with the unemployment rate at 3.7% among 16 to 24-year-olds and 3% among those aged 25 to 28 (the overall unemployment rate for the working-age population in Kazakhstan is 4.7%).
The highest number of unemployed youth (11,100) is in Almaty, then comes Astana (7,800) and the Almaty region (7,700). The lowest youth unemployment figures were reported in Ulytau, Pavlodar, and North Kazakhstan regions.
According to the report, 18,200 young people spent from one to three months on job hunting in 2024, 16,200 from three to six months, 16,000 less than a month, 7,500 looked for an employment for more than six months, and 4,000 had been looking for work for over a year.
Totally, there were 448,200 unemployed Kazakhstani citizens in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the unemployment rate at 4.2% among men (211,100) and 5.1% among women (237,100). 35 to 54 (256,900 people) and 55 to 64 (69,700) were the most affected age groups.
Family responsibilities (61,400), layoffs or company closures (50,300), and difficulty finding suitable jobs (112,500) were the most frequent reasons of unemployment. Domestic duties (44,200), health issues (17,500), and challenges securing employment post-graduation (16,600) were other contributing factors.
It is important to develop flexible employment policies suitable for the evolving labor market and to enhance conditions for self-employment and youth entrepreneurship to reduce youth unemployment in the long term.

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Employers have five new obligations towards employees due to the amended law

Employers in Serbia must fully align their operations with the new provisions of the Law on Occupational Health and Safety by Wednesday, 7 May, focused on enhanced employee protection, the introduction of preventive measures, and more effective control of working conditions. Particularly, remote and home-based work is now clearly regulated by the law. Also, the […]

Taxes for high earners will increase in Kazakhstan

A second package of amendments to the tax legislation was proposed by the Kazakh Ministry of National Economy on April 25, including a proposition to increase the individual income tax rate for high earners.

The Ministry of National Economy stated that citizens with lower incomes will pay personal income tax at a lower rate than high-paid workers, without specifying the exact income levels that will be subject to the higher rate. However, Minister Serik Zhumangarin proposed to introduce an increased rate of 15% for employees with annual income exceeding 8,500 monthly calculation indices (MCI).

Currently, they value one MCI in Kazakhstan at 3,932 KZT ($7.64), but there are plans to rise it to 4,129 KZT ($8) by 2026, due to coming into force of the new Tax Code. These figures let calculate the threshold for the increased personal income tax rate starting at 35 million KZT per year (approximately $68,000) or 2.9 million KZT per month ($5,600) in 2026.

Nevertheless, they will tax at the increased 15% rate only the portion exceeding the 2.9 million KZT threshold. The tax rate for the income up to that threshold will remain standard (10%).

With the introduction of a progressive scale, the Ministry of National Economy hopes to increase tax revenues by 70 billion KZT per year (approximately $13.5 million).

Additionally, optimizing deductions for medical, education, and social contributions were also proposed by the ministry. They will introduce a single basic deduction of 30 MCI per month instead of the current deduction of 14 MCI and eliminate all additional deductions in order to simplify accounting procedures and reduce the administrative burden for individuals and employers.

Currently, a portion of employees’ salary equivalent to 14 MCI, or about 55,000 KZT ($106), can be exempted from taxation, upon request. The proposed changes, starting in 2026, will change this amount to 123,800 KZT ($239) per month.

There was also a proposition to strengthen liability for violations related to compulsory social and health insurance and the use of special tax regimes. Totally, 71 amendments to the draft new Tax Code and related legislation have been proposed by the government, along with 67 amendments to the current Tax Code.

According to the previous report of the Times of Central Asia, the Mazhilis (the lower house of the Kazakh parliament) approved the draft of the new Tax Code in its first reading in early April. However, debates about the proposed reforms continue, as well as criticism from deputies, experts, and entrepreneurs.

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Georgia’s Economic Vision presentation during 17th Silk Road Tax Forum

The ‘17th Silk Road Tax Forum’ was held in Tbilisi at the joint initiative of the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance and the International Tax and Investment Center on 10-11 April, 2025. During the event, Lasha Khutsishvili, the Georgian Minister of Finance, pointed out the critical role of interactions within taxation for all countries along the historical Silk Road.
He also stressed the need of institutional reforms for development of a dynamic economy and improved investor relations for stricter fiscal discipline. According to Khutsishvili, the same Georgian tax system with its low taxes, provides modern methods of taxation along with customs administration.
They also discussed investments in strategic infrastructure projects such as roads, ports, energy transmission lines, digital connectivity and the importance of increasing the efficiency of tax administration and sharing international experience in this regard.
As Minister Lasha Khutsishvili stated, the Ministry of Finance approved the country’s first medium-term revenue strategy (2025–2030) at the end of last year, and the Georgian Revenue Service has updated and published a strategy for 2025-2030. Notably, Georgia is a candidate for EU membership and a full member of the European Union tax program (FISCALIS) program. It was one of the first nations to adopt base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).
Additionally, Georgia takes part in several forums such as the Global Forum of the Organization for European Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Intra-European Organization of European Tax Administrations (IOTA), and Union of Tax Administrations of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRITACOM).

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There are more unemployed in Kazakhstan than in Russia

According to data from the Eurasian Economic Commission, there are more than 330,000 unemployed people in Kazakhstan (3.5% of the total workforce), the only country in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) where the number of unemployed people has increased over the year. The increase over the year was 3.2% (27,000 people).
Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people has been decreasing in other EEU countries. Only 0.4% of the total workforce are officially unemployed in Russia (283,000 people), and their number decreased by 0.1% over a year.
The number of unemployed in Kyrgyzstan decreased from 65,100 to 48,400 people over the year (2.4% versus 1.7%) and by 8,600 people in Armenia (from 45,700 to 37,100, or 3.4% versus 2.8%).
The smallest number of unemployed people is in Belarus— 3,300 or 0.1% of the total labor force. 1,000 people found a job in the country over the year.
Totally, 704,900 or 0.8% of people were unemployed in the EEU member states at the end of February (a 14.8% downfall compared to the same date in 2024).

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Employment tax incentives valid until the end of 2025

There have been various tax and social relief measures for employers hiring specific categories of workers in Serbia for several years now.
In general, the Personal Income Tax Act, the Social Security Contributions Act, and other by-laws define the conditions and procedures for claiming one of these seven tax relief measures. They extend two of them on a yearly basis, one is valid until the end of 2025, while four are unlimited.
Notably, an individual with whom an employer has signed an employment contract and who is registered for mandatory social security in the CROSO system is called a “newly employed person”. Nevertheless, if an employer affiliated with the current employer previously employed the person or the person is working for a currently existing affiliated entity, such employee is not a newly employed person.
According to tax advisor Svetlana Serafijanović, it is possible to use only one of the available tax incentives at a time throughout the entire duration of the measure.
Particularly, they apply tax incentives for hiring individuals from the National Employment Service (NES) to employers hiring individuals who were previously unemployed and registered with the NES.
Then, founders of companies engaged in innovation who employ themselves within their own enterprise can use tax incentives for hiring founders of innovation companies. The founders’ own company must employ them, and they must hold at least a five percent ownership stake. Moreover, legal entities must not have been affiliated by the employer or they must not generate more than 30 percent of their revenue.
This incentive fully exempts the employer from payroll tax and social security contributions for 36 months from the date of company establishment, with a maximum gross salary exemption of 150,000 dinars per month.
To use incentives for employees engaged in research and development (R&D), the employee must directly conduct research and development activities, excluding administrative or supervisory roles.
As tax advisor Serafijanović explains, the employer who is a legal entity conducting research and development within its operations for its own needs gets a 70 percent exemption from payroll tax and a full exemption from pension and disability insurance contributions till the end of the research project.
Next, highly qualified professionals relocating to Serbia for employment who have not predominantly resided in the country in the past two years and have a monthly gross salary exceeding 393,855 dinars can use incentives for newly relocated employees.
Finally, employees under the age of 40 returning to Serbia after studying abroad with the minimum gross monthly salary of 262,570 dinars get a 70 percent reduction in the tax and social security contribution base for five years from the date of signing the employment contract.

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Jobs with the highest salaries in Serbia

The latest data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia for January report that some occupations deviate significantly from the country’s average salary.
For example, the production of coke and petroleum derivatives offers the highest average net salary, amounting to 330,000 dinars. Crude oil and natural gas extraction follows it with an average salary of 297,000 dinars.
Unsurprisingly, the field of information technology has been at the top spot in earnings in Serbia for many years. Particularly, software development stands out with an average salary exceeding 292,000 dinars, while some experts earn more than €5,000 per month.
Also, pilots traditionally get one of the highest salaries in the country (around 232,000 dinars).
The next field where salaries grow significantly is scientific research and development. This sector is one of the most promising career paths that offers the average salary equal to 206,000 dinars. This field is developing due to investing of substantial funds in scientific infrastructure.
The media and film industry sector can boast of the average salary exceeding 142,000 dinars. The increasing number of international productions choosing Serbia as a filming location explains the great potential of the cinematographic and television industry for high earnings.
Employees in management positions and consulting have an average income of approximately 170,000 dinars. The increasing need for expert advice in business management makes this field grow steadily.
Financial sector has traditionally been among the better-paid fields. Particularly, banking, insurance, and investment consultancy are prominent with an average salary of around 175,000 dinars.
Then, manufacturing and processing industry offers an average salary of 96,000 dinars. Although, tobacco product manufacturing stands out with the salary equal to 155,000 dinars, which proves that traditional industries can still be a source of significant income.
Marketing and market research come next, bringing an average salary of around 126,000 dinars. The increasing demand for marketing services and market analysis makes this field grow continuously.
Also, coal extraction (143,000 dinars), metal ore extraction (177,000 dinars), telecommunications (166,000 dinars), chemical production (124,000 dinars), and the production of basic pharmaceutical products (140,000 dinars) are among the highest-paying sectors.
Highly dynamic Serbian labour market is creating new opportunities for professional development. It is important to highlight that individual skills, experience, and specific competencies often influence salary levels. Other crucial factors in achieving high earnings in any sector are continuous improvement and keeping up with market trends.

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Income gaps and protest risks put Kazakhstan’s regional policy under scrutiny

Plans for implementing the country’s regional policy concept for 2025-2030 has been published on the Legalacts.egov.kz portal by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of National Economy. Significant economic disparities between regions, ongoing migration from rural areas to cities and the potential risk of mass protests are in its spotlight. Notably, regional inequality marks Kazakhstan’s economic growth. For example, the difference in gross regional product (GRP) per capita between the Atyrau and Turkestan regions is 10.7%. The Atyrau region (30%) and the cities of Astana (15.9%) and Almaty (10.2%) concentrate more than half of the country’s fixed assets.
However, mining remains the main industry (76%) in western regions, despite their overall contribution to GDP declining from 29.9% in 2019 to 25.9% in 2023. Meanwhile, the share of southern regions in GDP increased from 13.2% to 15.1%, despite the low labor productivity (approximately $10,800 per worker, compared to the national average of $23,000).
Unevenness also touches infrastructure development across Kazakhstan. Utility networks remain critically the deteriorated, while 98% of urban residents and 94.8% of rural residents have access to water supply, and 58% have access to gas supply. 64% is the wear -and-tear rate for power supply, 55.9% for wastewater systems and 53.1% for heating infrastructure.
Strain is also present in education infrastructure. Repairs are required in nearly 17.6% of schools, while the student seat shortage achieved 270,100 in 2023.
Another social issue is the unemployment rate, that surpassed national average of 4.7% in Kazakhstan’s western and southern regions. 46% of workers are self-employed in the Turkestan region and up to 9% of residents in the south live below the subsistence minimum.
NEET category, i.e. not in education, employment or training, includes approximately 400,000 young people (7.3%). A risk of social instability and growing protest sentiment is especially significant in the Mangystau, Karaganda and Turkestan regions due to the high concentration of NEET youth.
Another issue highlighting regional disparities is migration patterns. 184,800 people left the Turkestan region, while 116,400 moved out of the Zhambyl region, according to recent statistics. On the contrary, in Astana and Almaty, there was an influx of 51,500 and 43,200 migrants, respectively.
Population decline is also actual for Northern regions. The decrease consisted 40,800 residents over the past five years, while the share of elderly people in the East Kazakhstan region has attained 15.6%.
According to the policy concept, there are three groups of the regions: high-growth (Astana, Almaty and southern regions), stable (the Aktobe and Zhambyl regions) and depressed (northern regions). The plan proposes economic diversification, infrastructure modernization, measures to mitigate social risks, to prevent destabilization and to ensure sustainable development.

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