The Republic of Kazakhstan shipped US$78.7 billion worth of exported products around the globe in 2023.
That dollar amount results from a 36.4% increase from $57.7 billion five years earlier during 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of Kazakhstani exports dropped by -6.7% compared to $84.4 billion starting in 2022.
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country. A Central Asian nation, Kazakhstan shares its southern border with Russia.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, Kazakhstan uses the Kazakhstani tenge which appreciated by 4.6% against the US dollar since 2019 but diluted by -1.5% from 2022 to 2023. The weaker Kazakhstani currency compared to 2022 made Kazakhstan’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers.
The top 3 most valuable exports from Kazakhstan are crude oil, radioactive chemical elements and refined copper plus unwrought alloys. Add together, that trio of major Kazakhstani products approached two-thirds (62.2%) of the Central Asian country’s overall export sales in 2023.
Kazakhstan’s Most Valuable Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 83.2% of products exported from Kazakhstan was bought by importers in: Italy (18.8% of the Kazakhstani total), mainland China (18.7%), Russia (12.4%), Netherlands (5.2%), Türkiye (5%), South Korea (4.8%), Uzbekistan (4%), France (3.7%), Romania (3.5%), Greece (2.8%), Singapore (2.2%) and the United States of America (1.9%).
From a continental perspective, 53.3% of Kazakhstani exports by value was delivered to buyers in European countries while 43% was sold to fellow Asian importers. Kazakhstan shipped another 2.2% worth of goods to customers in North America.
Tinier percentages went to importers in Africa (1.3%), Latin America (0.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.01%) mostly Australia.
Given Kazakhstan’s population of 19.7 million people, its total $78.7 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $3,960 for every resident in the Central Asian republic. That dollar metric outpaces the average $3,900 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Kazakhstan’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Kazakhstani global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Kazakhstan.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$46.4 billion (58.9% of total exports)
- Ores, slag, ash: $5 billion (6.3%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $4.3 billion (5.5%)
- Iron, steel: $4.3 billion (5.5%)
- Copper: $3.2 billion (4.1%)
- Cereals: $2.2 billion (2.8%)
- Machinery including computers: $1.8 billion (2.3%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $1.2 billion (1.5%)
- Gems, precious metals: $1.1 billion (1.4%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $619.4 million (0.8%)
Kazakhstan’s top 10 exports accounted for 89.1% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Gems and precious metals was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 41.4% from 2022 to 2023. Exports of gold propelled growth for this product category.
In second place for improving export sales was machinery including computers via a 40.5% advance.
Kazakhstan’s shipments of inorganic chemicals posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 21.3%.
The leading decliner among Kazakhstan’s top 10 export categories was salt, sulphur, stone and cement, pulled down by a -47.1% year-over-year drop.
The above listed exports are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more detailed four-digit HTS codes, Kazakhstan’s most valuable export product is crude oil (53.7% of the country’s total). In second place was Kazakhstan’s exported radioactive chemical elements (4.4%), refined copper plus unwrought alloys (4.1%), copper ores and concentrates (3.9%), iron ferroalloys (3%), petroleum gases (2.6%), wheat (2.4%), processed petroleum oils (1.4%), iron ores and concentrates (1%), then coal including solid fuels made from coal (0.9%).
Products Generating Kazakhstan’s Largest Trade Surpluses
Overall, Kazakhstan achieved a US$17.6 billion trade surplus for 2023 reducing by -48.8% compared to $34.3 billion in black ink one year earlier.
The following types of Kazakhstani product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$44.6 billion (Down by -11.1% since 2022)
- Ores, slag, ash: $3.8 billion (Up by 35.2%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $3.6 billion (Up by 19%)
- Copper: $3 billion (Down by -18.5%)
- Iron, steel: $2.6 billion (Down by -31%)
- Cereals: $1.7 billion (Down by -6.3%)
- Gems, precious metals: $748.6 million (Up by 94.3%)
- Zinc: $600.1 million (Down by -27.7%)
- Milling products, malt, starches: $572.8 million (Down by -26.1%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $489.2 million (Down by -52.4%)
Kazakhstan has highly positive net exports in the international trade of mineral fuels, particularly crude oil and petroleum gases. In turn, these cashflows indicate Kazakhstan’s strong competitive advantages under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Products Causing Kazakhstan’s Worst Trade Deficits
Below are exports from Kazakhstan that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Kazakhstan’s goods trail Kazakhstani importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -US$7.8 billion (Up by 17.9% since 2022)
- Vehicles: -$7.2 billion (Up by 65%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$4.7 billion (Up by 47.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$2.3 billion (Up by 24.7%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$1.9 billion (Up by 6.7%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): -$1.73 billion (Up by 115.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.72 billion (Down by -7.5%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: -$1.6 billion (Up by 94.7%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$1.4 billion (Up by 28.2%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: -$979.3 million (Up by 19.8%)
Kazakhstan has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for machinery-related products, notably taps and valves, air or vacuum pumps, and computers.
Kazakhstani Export Companies
According to Forbes Global 2000 rankings, the following companies are examples of leading Kazakhstani companies.
- Bta Bank (Regional bank)
- Halyk Bank (Regional bank)
- KazMunaiGas Exploration (Oil and gas operations)
Wikipedia also lists exporters from Kazakhstan. Selected examples are shown below:
- Bogatyr Access Komir (Coal mining)
- KazakhGold (Gold mining)
- Kazatomprom (Uranium, rare earth metals)
- KazTransOil (Oil transportation)
In macroeconomic terms, Kazakhstan’s total exported goods represent 12% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($656.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 12% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 12.6% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Kazakhstan’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Kazakhstan’s unemployment rate averaged 4.775% for 2023, declining from an average 4.875% one year earlier in 2022 according to the International Monetary Fund statistics.
Astana is Kazakhstan’s capital city.
See also China’s Top Trading Partners, Italy’s Top Trading Partners, Russia’s Top Trading Partners, Netherlands Top Trading Partners, Turkey’s Top Trading Partners and xxx’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, Country Profiles, The World Factbook. Accessed on September 17, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 17, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 17, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 17, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 17, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on September 17, 2024
Wikipedia, Kazakhstan. Accessed on September 17, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Kazakhstan. Accessed on September 17, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on September 17, 2024