Bureau of National statistics
Agency for Strategic planning and reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan
    Key indicators
    552 049
    As of December 1, 2025, the number of registered legal entities amounted to 552049 units, including 438640 operating legal entities.
    1 899 141
    The number of registered subjects of individual entrepreneurship amounted to 1899141, including 1820909 operating entities.
    2 381 350
    The number of registered small and medium-sized businesses amounted to 2381350 units, including 2198251 operating ones.
    Registered and operating entities by dimension and activity
    as of December 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 552 049 438 640 1 899 141 1 820 909 29 820 21 913 2 381 350 2 198 251
    Small 542 471 429 186 - - 28 681 20 784 2 378 186 2 195 153
    Medium 6 980 6 886 - - 650 644 3 164 3 098
    Large 2 598 2 568 - - 489 485 - -
    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 November, compared to October 2025, there is a slight decrease in the number of registered legal entities (by 0,3%), compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 2,6%. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of operating legal entities - by 1%, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 3,4%. 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 December 1, 2025. amounted to 26,8%. On the second place – «Construction» (13,4%), on the third – «Provision of other types of services» (10%). Together, the share of these three types of activities is 50,2 % of all registered legal entities.

    As of December 1, 2025, the largest number of registered legal entities is in the cities of Almaty (157839 or 28,6%), Astana (108732 or 19,7%), and Shymkent (30091 or 5,5%). The smallest number of registered legal entities falls on the regions of Ulytau (2893 or 0,5%), Zhetisu (8459 or 1,5%) and Abay (8651 or 1,6%).

    Registered legal entities by type of activity and activity
    as of December 1, 2025
    By type of activity Total Of them
    operating including in the process of liquidation
    newly registered active temporarily suspended activities
    Total 552 049 438 640 48 003 198 653 191 984 4 664
    Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 21 275 18 812 1 689 5 641 11 482 121
    Mining and Quarrying 6 157 5 338 741 1 340 3 257 49
    Manufacturing industry 28 367 23 037 1 797 10 406 10 834 262
    Supply of electricity, gas, steam, hot water and air conditioning 1 955 1 670 149 556 965 18
    Water supply; sanitation, waste collection, treatment and disposal, pollution elimination activities 2 784 2 260 159 979 1 122 43
    Construction 74 050 56 985 5 384 19 127 32 474 1 175
    Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair 147 909 106 514 13 519 45 303 47 692 1 622
    Transport and warehousing 23 320 18 800 1 713 8 597 8 490 214
    Providing of accommodation and food services 11 381 9 037 1 294 4 018 3 725 40
    Information and communication 19 579 16 045 2 113 7 225 6 707 60
    Financial and insurance activities 8 165 6 018 971 2 431 2 616 118
    Real estate transactions 27 694 23 876 2 132 13 947 7 797 161
    Professional, scientific and technical activities 35 934 29 056 2 546 14 013 12 497 206
    Administrative and support services activities 26 013 21 650 1 690 11 215 8 745 143
    Public administration and defense; compulsory social security 9 724 9 481 215 8 959 307 31
    Education 31 766 29 421 1 630 21 340 6 451 128
    Healthcare and social services 12 653 11 541 1 098 7 215 3 228 38
    Arts, entertainment and recreation 8 112 6 659 740 3 149 2 770 36
    Provision of other types of services 55 210 42 439 8 423 13 191 20 825 199
    Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies 1 1 - 1 - -
    Registered legal entities by size and form of ownership
    as of December 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 552 049 26 044 467 332 520 11 217 58 673
    Small 542 471 21 058 463 239 455 10 923 58 174
    Medium 6 980 3 756 2 924 30 170 300
    Large 2 598 1 230 1 169 35 124 199
    Registered and operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship (IE and JV)

    In November, compared to October 2025, there is a slight increase in the number of registered individual entrepreneurs (by 0,02%), compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increase by 5,5%. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship - by 0,7%, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, their number increased by 6,7%. 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 December 1, 2025 was 36,4%. In second place is «Provision of other types of services» (15,3%), in third place is «Agriculture, forestry and fisheries» (13,3%). Together, the share of these three types of activities is 65% of all registered subjects of individual entrepreneurship.

    Registered and operating subjects of individual entrepreneurship by type of activity
    as of December 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 1 899 141 1 820 909 1 826 690 1 749 433 72 451 71 476
    Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 252 239 245 358 179 928 173 950 72 311 71 408
    Mining and Quarrying 779 710 779 710 - -
    Manufacturing industry 90 744 86 388 90 736 86 381 8 7
    Supply of electricity, gas, steam, hot water and air conditioning 625 586 625 586 - -
    Water supply; sanitation, waste collection, treatment and disposal, pollution elimination activities 2 247 2 173 2 246 2 172 1 1
    Construction 67 223 64 150 67 222 64 150 1 -
    Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair 690 764 658 898 690 749 658 886 15 12
    Transport and warehousing 177 706 174 086 177 698 174 079 8 7
    Providing of accommodation and food services 54 074 51 829 54 069 51 824 5 5
    Information and communication 20 583 19 720 20 583 19 720 - -
    Financial and insurance activities 681 628 681 628 - -
    Real estate transactions 106 696 103 471 106 675 103 456 21 15
    Professional, scientific and technical activities 33 465 31 976 33 465 31 976 - -
    Administrative and support services activities 46 730 44 957 46 717 44 944 13 13
    Public administration and defense; compulsory social security 137 130 137 130 - -
    Education 35 119 33 758 35 118 33 757 1 1
    Healthcare and social services 11 129 10 674 11 129 10 674 - -
    Arts, entertainment and recreation 17 323 16 450 17 322 16 449 1 1
    Provision of other types of services 290 877 274 967 290 811 274 961 66 6
    Registered and operating branches and branches of foreign legal entities

    As of December 1, 2025, the number of registered branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities amounted to 29820 units, including 21913 active ones. The largest number of registered branches and affiliates of foreign legal entities is in the cities of Almaty (3855 or 12,9%) and Astana (3513 or 11,8%), and in the Turkistan region (1918 or 6,4%). 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» (12451 or 41,8%), «Wholesale and retail trade; car and motorcycle repair» (3853 or 12,9%) and «Professional, scientific and technical activities» (2166 or 7,3%).

    Registered and operating branches by size and form of ownership
    as of December 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 25 813 2 610 22 070 131 610 1 133
    Small 24 714 2 299 21 329 110 580 1 086
    Medium 626 160 433 12 15 33
    Large 473 151 308 9 15 14
    Registered branches of foreign legal entities by size and activity
    as of December 1, 2025
    By dimension Total Of them
    operating including in the process of liquidation
    newly registered active temporarily suspended activities
    Total 4 007 2 149 349 905 895 85
    Small 3 967 2 111 348 872 891 84
    Medium 24 22 1 19 2 1
    Large 16 16 - 14 2 -
    Registered and operating legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with foreign and joint ownership

    As of December 1, 2025, the number of registered legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with a foreign form of ownership increased by 7,5% compared to the corresponding date of the previous year. The number of registered legal entities and branches with joint ownership increased by 0,6%.

    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» – 35,6%, «Provision of other types of services» – 14,7%, «Construction» – 8,9%.

    Registered and operating legal entities, branches and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities with foreign and joint ownership by country*
    as of December 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 63 813 47 119 11 827 8 849
    Russia 22 906 17 533 4 823 3 758
    Uzbekistan 7 885 6 186 632 467
    China 7 716 5 977 1 155 921
    Türkiye 5 171 3 336 745 480
    Kyrgyzstan 3 006 2 081 379 283
    Azerbaijan 1 640 1 230 224 161
    Ukraine 1 289 922 371 282
    Germany 965 754 489 361
    Belarus 915 733 188 152
    Republic of Korea 882 562 166 107

    * 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 December 1, 2025, the number of operating SMEs increased by 6,1% compared to the corresponding date of the previous year. In the total number of operating SMEs, the share of individual entrepreneurs was 71,7%, legal entities of small business – 17%, peasant or farm enterprises – 11,2%, 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%; «Provision of other types of services» – 13,5%. «Agriculture, forestry and fisheries» – 12%.

    Registered and operating small and medium-sized businesses
    as of December 1, 2025
    By region Registered Operating
    Republic of Kazakhstan 2 381 350 2 198 251
    Abay 59 542 55 903
    Akmola 67 364 63 054
    Aktobe 94 025 88 137
    Almaty 166 739 156 944
    Atyrau 70 046 65 476
    Batys Kazakhstan 63 919 59 949
    Zhambyl 118 954 109 929
    Zhetysu 66 179 63 080
    Karagandy 113 062 103 299
    Kostanay 73 027 69 252
    Kyzylorda 68 774 66 269
    Mangystau 84 616 79 520
    Pavlodar 64 575 57 649
    Soltustik Kazakhstan 39 280 35 953
    Turkistan 219 927 216 100
    Ulytau 19 391 18 381
    Shygys Kazakhstan 69 461 63 473
    Astana city 312 250 277 553
    Almaty city 457 718 405 346
    Shymkent city 152 501 142 984
    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