Kazakhstan nears five-million mark in passenger car registrations

Despite the overall increase in vehicle numbers, the country continues to face a significant share of aging cars on the roads.

According to analysts, the highest concentration of vehicles remains in the country’s financial center and densely populated southern regions. As of March 2026, Almaty had the largest number of registered passenger cars at 619,500, followed by Almaty region with 528,500 and Astana with 402,300. At the same time, some 120,200 vehicles are still formally registered under South Kazakhstan region license plates, even though the region was abolished in 2018.

Experts note that the age structure of the national vehicle fleet remains a serious issue. Data on vehicle age shows a continued dominance of older cars. Of all passenger vehicles in Kazakhstan, 2.2 million, or 43.9%, are more than 20 years old. Another 1.4 million vehicles are between 10 and 20 years old.

In comparison, passenger cars under three years old account for just 751,700 vehicles, or 15% of Kazakhstan’s total fleet. Meanwhile, 494,000 vehicles fall within the three-to-seven-year age range, while only 193,600 cars are between seven and 10 years old.

“Today, the number of passenger cars older than 20 years on Kazakhstan’s roads is almost three times greater than the number of vehicles under three years old. Moreover, this issue has persisted for years. Despite some decline in the share of aging vehicles compared to previous periods, older cars still dominate the country’s vehicle fleet structure,” the report said.

Analysts also pointed to significant regional differences in the age structure of vehicle fleets. In Astana, vehicles under three years old accounted for 30.2% of the city’s passenger car fleet in March, while cars older than 20 years made up just 20.2%.

In many regions, however, the picture was quite different. The highest share of vehicles older than 20 years was recorded in Zhambyl region, where they accounted for 64.9% of the total fleet. Older cars also made up more than half of all passenger vehicles in Zhetysu region (58.9%), Almaty region (58.6%), North Kazakhstan region (54.9%), East Kazakhstan region (54.4%), Akmola region (51.7%), and Karaganda region (50%).

The share of cars under three years old remained relatively low in most regions. Aside from Astana, the highest proportions in March 2026 were recorded in Almaty (23.5%), Shymkent (21.1%), and Abai region (21.7%), significantly above the national average. In other regions, the figure ranged between 8.3% and 16%.

According to the report, although the share of passenger cars under three years old increased from 7.2% in March 2022 to 15% in March 2026, older vehicles continue to account for a significant part of the country’s fleet. While the share of cars older than 20 years declined from 50.5% to 43.9% over the same period, their total number still exceeds two million. When vehicles older than 10 years are included, the figure rises to more than 3.5 million cars.

Registration data also points to the same trend. In March 2026, Kazakhstan registered 152,100 passenger vehicles, with more than one-third of them — 34.4% — being cars older than 20 years. Meanwhile, vehicles under three years old accounted for 24% of all newly registered cars during the month.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that a total of 16.4 billion tenge has been allocated from the budget for the reconstruction of the runway at Pavlodar airport.