Bureau of National Statistics
of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan
    Key indicators
    537 731
    As of March 1, 2025, the number of registered legal entities amounted to 537731 units, including 423411 operating legal entities.
    1 814 272
    The number of registered subjects of individual entrepreneurship amounted to 1814272, including 1727921 operating entities.
    2 283 656
    The number of registered small and medium-sized businesses amounted to 2283656 units, including 2091705 operating ones.
    Registered and operating entities by dimension and activity
    as of March 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 537 731 423 411 1 814 272 1 727 921 30 533 22 101 2 283 656 2 091 705
    Small 528 407 414 219 - - 29 411 20 990 2 280 554 2 088 677
    Medium 6 839 6 740 - - 642 634 3 102 3 028
    Large 2 485 2 452 - - 480 477 - -
    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 February, compared to January 2025, there is a slight increase in the number of registered legal entities (by 0.2%), compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 1.9%. At the same time, there is an decrease in the number of operating legal entities - by 0.8%, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 0.2%. 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 March 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 March 1, 2025, the largest number of registered legal entities is in the cities of Almaty (152342 or 28.3%), Astana (104348 or 19.4%), and Shymkent (29046 or 5.4%). The smallest number of registered legal entities falls on the regions of Ulytau (2931 or 0.5%), Zhetisu (8408 or 1.6%) and Abay (8489 or 1.6%).

    Registered legal entities by type of activity and activity
    as of March 1, 2025
    By type of activity Total Of them
    operating including in the process of liquidation
    newly registered active temporarily inactive
    Total 537 731 423 411 45 344 201 659 176 408 4 180
    Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 21 128 18 229 1 402 7 106 9 721 106
    Mining and Quarrying 5 696 4 795 523 1 516 2 756 41
    Manufacturing industry 27 389 21 768 1 863 10 526 9 379 258
    Supply of electricity, gas, steam, hot water and air conditioning 1 918 1 618 140 681 797 11
    Water supply; sanitation, waste collection, treatment and disposal, pollution elimination activities 2 711 2 163 138 1 070 955 36
    Construction 71 346 53 700 4 480 18 547 30 673 1 040
    Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair 146 066 104 093 12 756 46 234 45 103 1 417
    Transport and warehousing 22 560 17 933 1 795 8 437 7 701 192
    Providing of accommodation and food services 10 808 8 576 1 175 4 112 3 289 39
    Information and communication 18 766 15 473 2 090 7 349 6 034 56
    Financial and insurance activities 7 825 5 578 536 2 624 2 418 118
    Real estate transactions 26 750 22 910 2 088 14 142 6 680 148
    Professional, scientific and technical activities 34 916 28 034 2 327 14 279 11 428 194
    Administrative and support services activities 25 318 21 077 1 760 11 260 8 057 126
    Public administration and defense; compulsory social security 9 715 9 467 184 9 111 172 28
    Education 30 972 28 742 1 667 20 868 6 207 135
    Healthcare and social services 11 907 10 822 1 028 6 666 3 128 37
    Arts, entertainment and recreation 7 916 6 531 748 3 302 2 481 35
    Provision of other types of services 54 023 41 901 8 644 13 828 19 429 163
    Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies 1 1 - 1 - -
    Registered legal entities by size and form of ownership
    as of March 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 537 731 25 972 456 905 469 10 982 54 854
    Small 528 407 21 075 452 956 405 10 688 54 376
    Medium 6 839 3 682 2 869 29 182 288
    Large 2 485 1 215 1 080 35 112 190
    Registered and operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship (IE and JV)

    In February, compared to January 2025, there is a slight increase in the number of registered individual entrepreneurs (by 0.5%), compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increase by 5.3%. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship - by 0.6%, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 4.8%. 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 March 1, 2025 was 37.3%. In second place is «Provision of other types of services» (16.2%), in third place is «Agriculture, forestry and fisheries» (14.4%). Together, the share of these three types of activities is 67.9% of all registered subjects of individual entrepreneurship.

    Registered and operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship by type of activity
    as of March 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 1 814 272 1 727 921 1 741 577 1 656 949 72 695 70 972
    Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 261 074 249 295 188 476 178 396 72 598 70 899
    Mining and Quarrying 809 739 809 739 - -
    Manufacturing industry 93 548 89 129 93 539 89 121 9 8
    Supply of electricity, gas, steam, hot water and air conditioning 621 581 621 581 - -
    Water supply; sanitation, waste collection, treatment and disposal, pollution elimination activities 2 106 2 028 2 105 2 027 1 1
    Construction 58 497 54 934 58 495 54 933 2 1
    Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair 677 019 645 054 677 006 645 044 13 10
    Transport and warehousing 128 721 124 306 128 712 124 300 9 6
    Providing of accommodation and food services 46 995 44 304 46 990 44 299 5 5
    Information and communication 18 770 17 759 18 770 17 759 - -
    Financial and insurance activities 543 479 543 479 - -
    Real estate transactions 98 492 95 074 98 473 95 059 19 15
    Professional, scientific and technical activities 31 725 30 061 31 725 30 061 - -
    Administrative and support services activities 42 288 40 418 42 276 40 406 12 12
    Public administration and defense; compulsory social security 119 113 119 113 - -
    Education 32 953 31 643 32 952 31 642 1 1
    Healthcare and social services 10 985 10 513 10 985 10 513 - -
    Arts, entertainment and recreation 15 625 14 723 15 624 14 722 1 1
    Provision of other types of services 293 382 276 768 293 357 276 755 25 13
    Registered and operating branches and branches of foreign legal entities

    As of March 1, 2025, the number of registered branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities amounted to 30533 units, including 22101 active ones. The largest number of registered branches and affiliates of foreign legal entities is in the cities of Almaty (3856 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» (12650 or 41.4%), «Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair» (4043 or 13.2%) and «Professional, scientific and technical activities» (2172 or 7.1%).

    Registered and operating branches by size and form of ownership
    as of March 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 26 526 2 564 22 819 156 653 1 143
    Small 25 444 2 305 22 041 134 621 1 098
    Medium 620 134 455 12 13 31
    Large 462 125 323 10 19 14
    Registered branches of foreign legal entities by size and activity
    as of March 1, 2025
    By dimension Total Of them
    operating including in the process of liquidation
    newly registered active temporarily inactive
    Total 4 007 2 221 269 953 999 81
    Small 3 967 2 183 268 918 997 80
    Medium 22 20 1 18 1 1
    Large 18 18 - 17 1 -
    Registered and operating legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with foreign and joint ownership

    As of March 1, 2025, the number of registered legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with a foreign form of ownership increased by 5.9% compared to the corresponding date of the previous year. The number of registered legal entities and branches with joint ownership decreased by 1.8%.

    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» – 35.9%, «Provision of other types of services» – 13.8%, «Construction» – 9.1%.

    Registered and operating legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with foreign and joint ownership by country *
    as of March 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 60 004 44 707 11 635 8 612
    Russia 23 260 18 389 4 871 3 779
    Uzbekistan 6 105 4 788 616 450
    China 5 496 3 844 974 745
    Türkiye 5 204 3 464 752 479
    Kyrgyzstan 3 116 2 153 386 295
    Azerbaijan 1 544 1 174 215 153
    Ukraine 1 319 973 387 292
    Germany 947 731 491 353
    Belarus 914 754 189 145
    Republic of Korea 876 582 164 111

    * 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 March 1, 2025, the number of operating SMEs increased by 3.9% compared to the corresponding date of the previous year. In the total number of SMEs, the share of individual entrepreneurs was 67.7%, legal entities of small business – 20.4%, peasant or farm enterprises – 11.8%, 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» – 35.6%; «Provision of other types of services» – 14,1%. «Agriculture, forestry and fisheries» – 13,3%.

    Registered and operating small and medium-sized businesses
    as of March 1, 2025
    By region Registered Operating
    Republic of Kazakhstan 2 283 656 2 091 705
    Abay 58 811 54 793
    Akmola 64 593 59 802
    Aktobe 92 377 86 121
    Almaty 153 925 146 214
    Atyrau 68 225 63 471
    Batys Kazakhstan 62 719 58 670
    Zhambyl 117 522 105 096
    Zhetysu 64 544 60 554
    Karagandy 111 318 99 427
    Kostanay 70 577 66 783
    Kyzylorda 67 524 64 854
    Mangystau 83 699 77 165
    Pavlodar 62 843 56 918
    Soltustik Kazakhstan 38 708 35 638
    Turkistan 217 283 210 577
    Ulytau 19 442 18 310
    Shygys Kazakhstan 69 380 63 311
    Astana city 286 279 251 187
    Almaty city 424 938 374 411
    Shymkent city 148 949 138 403
    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