ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 21. Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region and Astana are emerging as national leaders in industrial and innovative development.
Data obtained by Trend from the Bureau of National Statistics shows that the report provides an assessment of the quality and complexity of industrial growth in the regions of Kazakhstan for the period from January through June 2025. It incorporates key indicators such as growth in manufacturing gross value added (GVA), labor productivity, the share of high and medium-tech goods in exports, and investment in fixed capital in the manufacturing sector.
Karaganda region topped the ranking, demonstrating balanced performance across all components, especially a high share of medium-tech exports (73.8 percent). Astana followed closely, leading the country in the share of high-tech exports (82 percent) and productivity gains.
The Kyzylorda region also made a strong showing, largely due to an exceptional increase in industrial investment—its investment growth index exceeded 400 percent. Turkestan and Mangistau regions rounded out the top five, with robust dynamics in productivity and investment, though with more modest high-tech export shares.
Meanwhile, the Abay and Atyrau regions were identified as lagging in industrial modernization, showing low productivity gains and weak exports of technologically complex goods. Zhetysu, Ulytau, and East Kazakhstan regions also scored poorly due to limited investment and slow industrial output growth.
The index methodology used min-max normalization and principal component analysis (PCA) to determine weights and assess the multidimensional nature of industrial progress. The findings suggest that reliance solely on extractive industries is no longer sufficient for sustainable development and that forward-looking policy and structural reforms are critical to fostering resilient, innovation-driven regional economies.
