Agency for Strategic planning and reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Bureau of National statistics
    Key indicators
    536 677
    As of February 1, 2025, the number of registered legal entities amounted to 536677 units, including 426867 operating legal entities.
    1 805 947
    The number of registered subjects of individual entrepreneurship amounted to 1805947, including 1718306 operating entities.
    2 274 387
    The number of registered small and medium-sized businesses amounted to 2274387 units, including 2085357 operating ones.
    Registered and operating entities by dimension and activity
    as of February 1, 2025
    By dimension Legal entities Subjects of individual entrepreneurship Branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities Subjects of small and medium business
    registered operating registered operating registered operating registered operating
    Total 536 677 426 867 1 805 947 1 718 306 30 565 22 398 2 274 387 2 085 357
    Small 527 354 417 674 - - 29 454 21 299 2 271 271 2 082 313
    Medium 6 845 6 746 - - 630 622 3 116 3 044
    Large 2 478 2 447 - - 481 477 - -
    Dynamics of subjects

    Annually, there is an increase in the number of registered legal entities by an average of 4.5%, so over the past ten years (2015-2024) their number has increased from 360287 to 536241 (by 175954 units or 48.8%). At the same time, it should be noted that the main growth occurs due to small legal entities, their number is steadily increasing every year by an average of 4.6%. Unlike small ones, the dynamics of medium and large legal entities is not stable. Over the past decade, against the background of the annual growth in the number of medium and large legal entities, in 2016, 2017 and 2019 their number was not significant, but decreased (by 1.3%, 1.4% and 3.1%, respectively).

    Dynamics of subjects
    By dimension 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

    Total

    360 287 383 850 412 677 433 774 446 687 461 983 481 732 507 238 526 290 536 241

    Small

    351 229 374 912 403 862 424 796 437 988 453 343 472 777 497 995 517 123 526 826

    Medium

    6 572 6 502 6 432 6 490 6 297 6 235 6 494   6 685 6 689 6 919

    Large

    2 486 2 436 2 383 2 488 2 402 2 405 2 461   2 558 2 478 2 496
    Registered and operating legal entities

    In January 2025, compared to December 2024, there is a slight increase in the number of registered legal entities (by 0.1%), compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 1.9%. There has been an increase in the number of operating legal entities - by 0.2% compared to December 2024, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 0.7%. Since the beginning of the year, by type of economic activity, the largest number of registered legal entities remains in the industry «Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair», the share of which as of February 1, 2025. amounted to 27.2%. On the second place - "Construction" (13.3%), on the third - "Provision of other types of services" (10%). Together, the share of these three types of activities is 50.5% of all registered legal entities.

    As of February 1, 2025, the largest number of registered legal entities is in the cities of Almaty (151954 or 28.3%), Astana (103967 or 19.4%), and Shymkent (29263 or 5.5%). The smallest number of registered legal entities falls on the regions of Ulytau (2922 or 0.5%), Zhetisu (8355 or 1.6%) and Abay (8482 or 1.6%).

    Registered legal entities by type of activity and activity
    as of February 1, 2025
    By type of activity Total Of them
    operating including in the process of liquidation
    newly registered active temporarily inactive
    Total 536 677 426 867 45 460 201 220 180 187 4 253
    Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 21 097 18 196 1 358 6 963 9 875 107
    Mining and Quarrying 5 671 4 782 554 1 487 2 741 41
    Manufacturing industry 27 310 21 745 1 865 10 412 9 468 262
    Supply of electricity, gas, steam, hot water and air conditioning 1 912 1 621 139 676 806 10
    Water supply; sanitation, waste collection, treatment and disposal, pollution elimination activities 2 702 2 159 136 1 061 962 35
    Construction 71 188 53 858 4 505 18 546 30 807 1 071
    Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair 146 074 106 661 13 159 46 916 46 586 1 444
    Transport and warehousing 22 513 17 999 1 745 8 359 7 895 197
    Providing of accommodation and food services 10 756 8 531 1 117 4 061 3 353 40
    Information and communication 18 692 15 572 2 152 7 281 6 139 56
    Financial and insurance activities 7 798 5 652 579 2 559 2 514 119
    Real estate transactions 26 714 22 932 2 047 14 049 6 836 152
    Professional, scientific and technical activities 34 833 28 155 2 276 14 147 11 732 199
    Administrative and support services activities 25 271 21 221 1 777 11 167 8 277 126
    Public administration and defense; compulsory social security 9 712 9 462 182 9 112 168 28
    Education 30 863 28 669 1 597 20 775 6 297 133
    Healthcare and social services 11 814 10 757 945 6 622 3 190 37
    Arts, entertainment and recreation 7 926 6 597 768 3 253 2 576 35
    Provision of other types of services 53 830 42 297 8 559 13 773 19 965 161
    Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies 1 1 - 1 - -
    Registered legal entities by size and form of ownership
    as of February 1, 2025
    By dimension Total Including by forms and types of ownership
    state private total of them foreign
    with the participation of the state (without foreign participation) joint ventures (with foreign participation)
    Total 536 677 25 956 456 182 463 10 995 54 539
    Small 527 354 21 079 452 216 397 10 703 54 059
    Medium 6 845 3 673 2 882 30 183 290
    Large 2 478 1 204 1 084 36 109 190
    Registered and operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship (IE and JV)

    In January 2025, compared to December 2024, there is a slight increase in the number of registered individual entrepreneurs (by 0.6%), compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increase by 4.6%. There has been an increase in the number of operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship - by 0.7% compared to December 2024, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 3.9%. Since the beginning of the year, by type of economic activity, the largest number of registered individual entrepreneurs remains in the industry «Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair», the share of which as of February 1, 2025 was 37.5%. In second place is «Provision of other types of services» (16.3%), in third place is «Agriculture, forestry and fisheries» (14.5%). Together, the share of these three types of activities is 68.3% of all registered subjects of individual entrepreneurship.

    Registered and operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship by type of activity
    as of February 1, 2025
    By type of activity Total Including those operating:
    registered operating in the form of personal business in the form of a joint venture
    registered operating registered operating

    Total

    1 805 947 1 718 306 1 733 293 1 647 395 72 654 70 911

    Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

    262 567 250 545 190 013 179 709 72 554 70 836

    Mining and Quarrying

    806 736 806 736 - -

    Manufacturing industry

    94 142 89 687 94 133 89 679 9 8

    Supply of electricity, gas, steam, hot water and air conditioning

    621 580 621 580 - -

    Water supply; sanitation, waste collection, treatment and disposal, pollution elimination activities

    2 114 2 036 2 113 2 035 1 1

    Construction

    58 152 54 538 58 150 54 537 2 1

    Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair

    676 800 644 463 676 785 644 451 15 12

    Transport and warehousing

    120 260 115 780 120 251 115 774 9 6

    Providing of accommodation and food services

    46 500 43 783 46 495 43 778 5 5

    Information and communication

    18 709 17 672 18 709 17 672 - -

    Financial and insurance activities

    532 465 532 465 - -

    Real estate transactions

    98 009 94 496 97 991 94 483 18 13

    Professional, scientific and technical activities

    31 639 29 963 31 639 29 963 - -

    Administrative and support services activities

    41 827 39 929 41 816 39 918 11 11

    Public administration and defense; compulsory social security

    118 113 118 113 - -

    Education

    32 555 31 225 32 554 31 224 1 1

    Healthcare and social services

    10 982 10 498 10 982 10 498 - -

    Arts, entertainment and recreation

    15 538 14 631 15 537 14 630 1 1

    Provision of other types of services

    294 076 277 166 294 048 277 150 28 16⁠
    Registered and operating branches and branches of foreign legal entities

    As of February 1, 2025, the number of registered branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities amounted to 30565 units, including 22398 active ones. The largest number of registered branches and affiliates of foreign legal entities is in the cities of Almaty (3846 or 12.6%) and Astana (3525 or 11.5 %), and in the Karaganda region (1916 or 6.3%). By types of economic activity, the largest number of registered branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities belong to the sectors «Provision of other types of services» (12657 or 41.4%), «Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair» (4052 or 13.3%) and «Professional, scientific and technical activities» (2165 or 7.1%).

    Registered and operating branches by size and form of ownership
    as of February 1, 2025
    By dimension Total Including by forms and types of ownership
    state private total of them foreign
    with the participation of the state (without foreign participation) joint ventures (with foreign participation)
    Total 26 553 2 557 22 852 159 654 1 144
    Small 25 482 2 300 22 082 135 622 1 100
    Medium 608 131 446 13 13 31
    Large 463 126 324 11 19 13
    Registered branches of foreign legal entities by size and activity
    as of February 1, 2025
    By dimension Total Of them
    operating including in the process of liquidation
    newly registered active temporarily inactive
    Total 4 012 2 324 289 989 1 046 81
    Small 3 972 2 286 288 953 1 045 80
    Medium 22 20 1 18 1 1
    Large 18 18 - 18 - -
    Registered and operating legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with foreign and joint ownership

    As of February 1, 2025, the number of registered legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with a foreign form of ownership increased by 6.1% compared to the corresponding date of the previous year. The number of registered legal entities and branches with joint ownership decreased by 2%.

    In terms of types of economic activity, the largest share of registered legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with foreign and joint ownership falls on the sectors «Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair» – 36%, «Provision of other types of services» – 13.7%, «Construction» – 9.1%.

    Registered and operating legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with foreign and joint ownership by country *
    as of February 1, 2025
    Be country Legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities
    with foreign ownership with joint ownership
    registered operating registered operating
    Republic of Kazakhstan 59 695 45 211 11 649 8 718
    Russia 23 231 18 765 4 889 3 831
    Uzbekistan 5 915 4 590 623 460
    China 5 378 3 783 968 746
    Türkiye 5 240 3 542 748 482
    Kyrgyzstan 3 110 2 156 386 301
    Azerbaijan 1 531 1 180 212 152
    Ukraine 1 319 985 389 299
    Germany 941 741 495 358
    Belarus 916 772 186 145
    Republic of Korea 880 613 161 111

    * Top 10 countries by the largest number of registered legal entities, branches and branches of foreign legal entities

    Registered and operating small and medium-sized businesses

    As of February 1, 2025, the number of operating SMEs increased by 3.2% compared to the corresponding date of the previous year. In the total number of SMEs, the share of individual entrepreneurs was 67.6%, legal entities of small business – 20.5%, peasant or farm enterprises – 11.9%, legal entities of medium business – 0.1%.

    In terms of types of economic activity, the largest share of registered small and medium-sized businesses falls on the sectors «Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair» – 35.7%; «Provision of other types of services» – 14,2%. «Agriculture, forestry and fisheries» – 13,5%.

    Registered and operating small and medium-sized businesses
    as of February 1, 2025
    By region Registered Operating
    Republic of Kazakhstan 2 274 387 2 085 357
    Abay 58 724 54 613
    Akmola 64 363 59 462
    Aktobe 92 776 86 346
    Almaty 152 121 144 269
    Atyrau 68 326 63 565
    Batys Kazakhstan 62 774 58 614
    Zhambyl 117 548 104 482
    Zhetysu 64 366 60 517
    Karagandy 111 463 99 314
    Kostanay 70 299 66 450
    Kyzylorda 68 326 65 521
    Mangystau 83 843 77 229
    Pavlodar 62 681 56 819
    Soltustik Kazakhstan 38 667 35 552
    Turkistan 217 146 210 341
    Ulytau 19 447 18 289
    Shygys Kazakhstan 69 453 63 177
    Astana city 282 779 250 515
    Almaty city 420 562 372 501
    Shymkent city 148 723 137 781
    Glossary

    Individual entrepreneurship - an independent, initiative activity of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, kandas, aimed at obtaining net income, based on the property of individuals themselves and carried out on behalf of individuals, at their risk and under their property responsibility. Individual entrepreneurship is carried out in the form of personal or joint entrepreneurship.

    Personal entrepreneurship - carried out by one individual independently on the basis of property belonging to him by the right of ownership, as well as by virtue of another right that allows the use and (or) disposal of property.

    Joint entrepreneurship - carried out by a group of individuals (individual entrepreneurs) on the basis of property belonging to them on the basis of common ownership, as well as by virtue of another right that allows joint use and (or) disposal of property.

    Categories of business entities - depending on the average annual number of employees and average annual income, business entities are classified into the following categories: "subjects of small" business, including micro-entrepreneurship entities; subjects of medium business; subjects of large business. For the purposes of state statistics, only the criterion of the average annual number of employees is used.

    Principal type of activity - a type of activity, the added value of which exceeds the added value of any other type of activity carried out by an economic entity;

    Secondary type of activity - a type of activity, in addition to the main one, which is carried out with the aim of producing products (goods and services) for third parties.

    Methodological explanations

    All presented indicators are based on the Statistical Business Register, which contains information on legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities, as well as individual entrepreneurs that have been registered or re-registered with the registration authorities.

    The proposed tables show the number of registered and operating legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, as well as small and medium-sized businesses by size, by form of ownership, by region and type of activity.

    The types of activities are presented in accordance with the current General Classifier of Types of Economic Activities (GCTEA). Entities carrying out several types of activities are accounted for by the main type that provides the greatest increase in value added.

    Operating entities in the Statistical Business Register include:

    • entities currently engaged in economic activity, ie. active;
    • newly registered and not yet engaged in economic activity;
    • entities that temporarily suspended their activities.

    In accordance with the "Classifier of the dimension of legal entities, branches and representative offices, as well as individual entrepreneurship entities by the number of employees", 3 classes of entities are provided for in dimension, depending on the average annual number of employees:

    • small (up to 100 people);
    • medium (from 101 to 250 people);
    • large (over 250 people).

    Legal entities with branches are taken into account taking into account the headcount of all its branches.


    Release responsible:
    Department of Statistical Registers and Classifications
    Department Director:
    E. Bekberdiev
    Теl. +7 7172 74-90-58
    Executor:
    D. Toleugali
    Теl. +7 7172 74-97-95
    E-mail: d.toleugali @aspire.gov.kz
    Address:
    010000, Astana
    Mangilik el avenue, 8
    House of Ministries, entrance 4