The number of foreigners who permanently moved to Kazakhstan in 2023 doubled compared to the first half of 2022, according to the National Statistics Bureau of Kazakhstan. At the same time, Kazakh citizens have been emigrating from the country less frequently, Zakon.kz reports.
In the entirety of 2022, Kazakhstan granted residence permits to 17,400 individuals, while 24,100 people left the country, according to information from the National Statistics Bureau of Kazakhstan.
During the first half of 2023, 13,652 individuals relocated to Kazakhstan for permanent residency. This marks an 87.3% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
Meanwhile, during the first half of the year, 6,996 people left Kazakhstan. This represents a 56.7% decrease compared to the same period in the previous year. As a result, a positive migration balance of +6,656 people has been observed.
"The main migration exchange of the country occurs with the CIS states. The share of arrivals from CIS countries was 89.1%, and the share of departures to these countries was 75.4%. Among the 12,100 people who moved to Kazakhstan for permanent residency from CIS countries, the majority arrived from Russia (6,858). Uzbekistan comes in second place (3,200), followed by Turkmenistan (671). The highest number of departures was to Russia (4,981)," stated the National Statistics Bureau.
From other countries, 1,400 individuals entered Kazakhstan during the first half of the year, while 1,700 people left for countries outside the CIS. The most migrants moved to Kazakhstan from Mongolia (275), China (265), and Turkey (163).
Regarding the nationalities of those arriving, during the first six months of 2023, the most frequent movers to Kazakhstan were ethnic Kazakhs (4,706 individuals), Russians (4,622), Uzbeks (593), Karakalpaks (498), and Ukrainians (452). Conversely, the most common nationalities among those leaving were Russians (4,249 individuals), Germans (924), Kazakhs (516), Ukrainians (456), and Tatars (168).
As of now, the total population of Kazakhstan is approaching 20 million people.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
August 22, 2023