ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 24. In April 2025, Kazakhstan's Almaty recorded the highest business activity in the republic, with an index of 57.9 percent, Trend reports.
According to the information, as of May 1, 2025, the city had 378.900 active small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), an increase of 7.4 percent. In 2025, 70 billion tenge (approximately $140 million) was allocated to support SMEs, of which 52.8 billion tenge (about $105.6 million) came from a 2.5-fold increase in local budget funding.
Moreover, by the end of 2024, the output of Almaty’s SMEs had grown by 13.9 percent, reaching 24.9 trillion tenge (approximately $49.8 billion).
"The share of SMEs in Almaty’s gross regional product increased from 58.1 percent in 2023 to 60.3 percent in 2024. This sector is the main source of employment: it employs 90 percent of the city's workforce – 972.100 people," the report states.
Almaty also dominates this market within Kazakhstan, accounting for 95.2 percent of the country's total volume of electronic retail trade in goods and 93.2 percent of the total volume of electronic trade in services.
By the end of 2024, the volume of e-commerce in goods reached 3 trillion tenge (approximately $6 billion), a 30.5 percent increase, while the volume of e-commerce in services hit 2.3 trillion tenge (about $4.6 billion), a 61 percent increase.
"About 50 percent of all companies using internet resources to sell goods and services in Kazakhstan are located in Almaty, with 1,556 enterprises operating there (out of a total of 3,239 in the country)," the report states.
Major online platforms include Kaspi.kz, Wildberries.kz, Aviata.kz, Sulpak.kz, Technodom.kz, and others. In December 2024, Magnum E-commerce Kazakhstan LLP launched a DarkStore capable of processing up to 18,000 orders per day, creating potential for scaling online business and further growth of e-commerce in the city.
Overall, the dynamic development of Almaty’s economy led to a 14.6 percent increase in local budget revenues during the first four months of 2025.
