Arman Shakkaliev named the regions that made the greatest contribution to trade growth

At a government meeting on October 14, Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliyev presented key trade indicators for the first nine months of this year. According to the minister, the trade sector's physical volume index for the reporting period was 108.8%. In nominal terms, trade volume reached 52.8 trillion tenge, a 14.5% increase over the same period last year.

"Growth is observed in all regions of the country. The cities of Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent, as well as the Atyrau and Karaganda regions, made the largest contributions. These five regions accounted for 71.3% of total trade, or 37.6 trillion tenge," the minister noted.

Wholesale trade accounts for 66.4% of the industry's structure. Its volume exceeded 35 trillion tenge, an increase of 9.6% compared to the same period last year. The main growth was driven by non-commodity consumer goods and industrial goods, which accounted for approximately 82%.

Retail trade also demonstrated steady growth. The retail volume index reached 107.1%, and its turnover reached 17.5 trillion tenge, 2.6 trillion tenge more than the previous year. Sales of non-food products (+1.7 trillion tenge) and food products (+900 billion tenge) made significant contributions.

Sales through retail outlets increased by 6.7%, while sales through individual entrepreneurs, including those operating in markets, accounted for over 8.1% of the total. The top three cities by retail turnover were Almaty (32.8%), Astana (14%), and the Karaganda region (7.3%).

Furthermore, e-commerce remains a key driver of retail turnover. According to the minister's latest figures, online sales for the first nine months of this year totaled approximately 2.7 trillion tenge, up 14% from the same period last year.