Agency for Strategic planning and reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Bureau of National statistics
    Key indicators
    539 304
    As of April 1, 2025, the number of registered legal entities amounted to 539304 units, including 424506 operating legal entities.
    1 819 033
    The number of registered subjects of individual entrepreneurship amounted to 1819033, including 1734957 operating entities.
    2 289 818
    The number of registered small and medium-sized businesses amounted to 2289818 units, including 2099642 operating ones.
    Registered and operating entities by dimension and activity
    as of April 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 539 304 424 506 1 819 033 1 734 957 26 513 22 101 2 289 818 2 099 642
    Small 529 981 415 317 - - 25 427 20 990 2 286 705 2 096 605
    Medium 6 852 6 751 - - 624 634 3 113 3 037
    Large 2 471 2 438 - - 462 477 - -
    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 March, compared to February 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 2.0%. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of operating legal entities - by 0.2%, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 0.06%. 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 April 1, 2025. amounted to 27.1%. On the second place - "Construction" (13.3%), on the third - "Provision of other types of services" (10.1%). Together, the share of these three types of activities is 50.5% of all registered legal entities.

    As of April 1, 2025, the largest number of registered legal entities is in the cities of Almaty (152915 or 28.4%), Astana (104798 or 19.4%), and Shymkent (29106 or 5.4%). The smallest number of registered legal entities falls on the regions of Ulytau (2929 or 0.5%), Zhetisu (8436 or 1.6%) and Abay (8480 or 1.6%).

    Registered legal entities by type of activity and activity
    as of April 1, 2025
    By type of activity Total Of them
    operating including in the process of liquidation
    newly registered active temporarily inactive
    Total 539 304 424 506 46 473 200 858 177 175 4 134
    Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 21 185 18 317 1 455 6 866 9 996 105
    Mining and Quarrying 5 738 4 844 548 1 496 2 800 40
    Manufacturing industry 27 520 21 934 1 684 10 532 9 718 255
    Supply of electricity, gas, steam, hot water and air conditioning 1 922 1 627 124 656 847 11
    Water supply; sanitation, waste collection, treatment and disposal, pollution elimination activities 2 713 2 168 137 1 040 991 36
    Construction 71 669 53 748 4 718 18 275 30 755 1 031
    Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair 146 320 104 438 13 302 46 201 44 935 1 392
    Transport and warehousing 22 584 17 962 1 822 8 387 7 753 185
    Providing of accommodation and food services 10 883 8 654 1 241 4 089 3 324 39
    Information and communication 18 824 15 473 2 112 7 335 6 026 58
    Financial and insurance activities 7 885 5 645 606 2 620 2 419 119
    Real estate transactions 26 821 22 959 2 129 14 093 6 737 148
    Professional, scientific and technical activities 35 027 28 089 2 378 14 181 11 530 191
    Administrative and support services activities 25 353 21 074 1 784 11 216 8 074 126
    Public administration and defense; compulsory social security 9 675 9 426 182 9 075 169 28
    Education 31 057 28 822 1 682 20 992 6 148 136
    Healthcare and social services 11 968 10 888 1 052 6 742 3 094 36
    Arts, entertainment and recreation 7 937 6 521 767 3 275 2 479 35
    Provision of other types of services 54 222 41 916 8 750 13 786 19 380 163
    Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies 1 1 - 1 - -
    Registered legal entities by size and form of ownership
    as of April 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 539 304 25 950 458 174 477 11 032 55 180
    Small 529 981 21 060 454 220 414 10 742 54 701
    Medium 6 852 3 684 2 879 28 179 289
    Large 2 471 1 206 1 075 35 111 190
    Registered and operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship (IE and JV)

    In March, compared to February 2025, there is a slight increase in the number of registered individual entrepreneurs (by 0.2%), compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increase by 5.4%. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship - by 0.4%, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 5.0%. 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 April 1, 2025 was 37.2%. In second place is «Provision of other types of services» (16.1%), in third place is «Agriculture, forestry and fisheries» (14.3%). Together, the share of these three types of activities is 67.6% of all registered subjects of individual entrepreneurship.

    Registered and operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship by type of activity
    as of April 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 1 819 033 1 734 957 1 746 305 1 663 939 72 728 71 018
    Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 259 929 248 366 187 292 177 416 72 637 70 950
    Mining and Quarrying 815 747 815 747 - -
    Manufacturing industry 92 851 88 571 92 842 88 563 9 8
    Supply of electricity, gas, steam, hot water and air conditioning 628 590 628 590 - -
    Water supply; sanitation, waste collection, treatment and disposal, pollution elimination activities 2 115 2 039 2 114 2 038 1 1
    Construction 58 963 55 493 58 961 55 492 2 1
    Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair 676 533 645 361 676 519 645 350 14 11
    Transport and warehousing 135 212 130 894 135 203 130 887 9 7
    Providing of accommodation and food services 47 324 44 705 47 319 44 700 5 5
    Information and communication 18 850 17 885 18 850 17 885 - -
    Financial and insurance activities 570 509 570 509 - -
    Real estate transactions 98 763 95 465 98 744 95 450 19 15
    Professional, scientific and technical activities 31 774 30 156 31 774 30 156 - -
    Administrative and support services activities 42 653 40 844 42 642 40 833 11 11
    Public administration and defense; compulsory social security 124 118 124 118 - -
    Education 33 182 31 904 33 181 31 903 1 1
    Healthcare and social services 10 988 10 535 10 988 10 535 - -
    Arts, entertainment and recreation 15 673 14 784 15 672 14 783 1 1
    Provision of other types of services 292 086 275 991 292 067 275 984 19 7
    Registered and operating branches and branches of foreign legal entities

    As of April 1, 2025, the number of registered branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities amounted to 30529 units, including 22128 active ones. The largest number of registered branches and affiliates of foreign legal entities is in the cities of Almaty (3859 or 12.6%) and Astana (3528 or 11.5%), and in the Turkistan region (1926 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» (12660 or 41.4%), «Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair» (4050 or 13.2%) and «Professional, scientific and technical activities» (2169 or 7.1%).

    Registered and operating branches by size and form of ownership
    as of April 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 26 513 2 573 22 802 155 653 1 138
    Small 25 427 2 309 22 024 133 621 1 094
    Medium 624 138 455 12 13 31
    Large 462 126 323 10 19 13
    Registered branches of foreign legal entities by size and activity
    as of April 1, 2025
    By dimension Total Of them
    operating including in the process of liquidation
    newly registered active temporarily inactive
    Total 4 016 2 230 281 957 992 81
    Small 3 976 2 192 280 922 990 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 April 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 April 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 60 334 44 904 11 685 8 650
    Russia 23 251 18 366 4 880 3 781
    Uzbekistan 6 215 4 892 612 448
    China 5 650 4 000 1 006 778
    Türkiye 5 200 3 439 754 478
    Kyrgyzstan 3 114 2 081 387 295
    Azerbaijan 1 562 1 186 214 153
    Ukraine 1 317 970 384 288
    Germany 945 727 489 351
    Belarus 916 758 188 145
    Republic of Korea 877 582 164 111

    * 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 April 1, 2025, the number of operating SMEs increased by 4.0% 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 – 11.6%, 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» – 35.4%; «Provision of other types of services» – 13,9%. «Agriculture, forestry and fisheries» – 13,2%.

    Registered and operating small and medium-sized businesses
    as of April 1, 2025
    By region Registered Operating
    Republic of Kazakhstan 2 289 818 2 099 642
    Abay 58 776 54 861
    Akmola 64 719 60 034
    Aktobe 92 009 85 887
    Almaty 154 985 147 411
    Atyrau 68 276 63 648
    Batys Kazakhstan 62 854 58 871
    Zhambyl 117 550 105 346
    Zhetysu 64 554 60 659
    Karagandy 111 185 99 535
    Kostanay 70 601 66 910
    Kyzylorda 67 131 64 538
    Mangystau 83 448 77 002
    Pavlodar 62 959 57 019
    Soltustik Kazakhstan 38 711 35 706
    Turkistan 216 563 209 991
    Ulytau 19 328 18 231
    Shygys Kazakhstan 69 265 63 394
    Astana city 288 979 253 065
    Almaty city 428 719 378 683
    Shymkent city 149 206 138 851
    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