Kazakhstan’s foreign trade surges 10.5% in Q1
Kazakhstan's foreign trade activity in early 2026 showed moderate growth, driven by an increase in both exports and imports, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Data from the Bureau of National Statistics indicates that foreign trade turnover increased by 10.5 percent year-on-year in January-March, totaling 32.9 billion US dollars. Trade growth is robust across both CIS/EAEU partners and non-CIS countries.
First-quarter exports amounted to 17.99 billion US dollars, an increase of 9.4 percent. Imports grew more dynamically to 14.91 billion US dollars, which is 11.8 percent higher than last year's level. Despite the growth in foreign trade, the trade surplus decreased to 3.08 billion US dollars, slightly lower than last year's figure.
Of the total trade volume, the majority came from outside the CIS 23.6 billion US dollars, up 7.9 percent. Turnover with CIS and EAEU countries increased by 17.4 percent to 9.29 billion US dollars and 17 percent to 7.3 billion US dollars, respectively.
While Kazakhstan's exports to Russia dipped to 1.49 billion US dollars, increasing trade volumes with Armenia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan, coupled with a rise in imports from Russia to 4.96 billion US dollars, bolstered overall EAEU economic integration.
Monthly data shows fluctuating trends: in March 2026, foreign trade turnover increased by 4.3 percent compared to February, with imports growing more significantly than exports. Compared to March 2025, total turnover also showed a 7.7 percent increase.
Earlier, Qazinform reported Kazakhstan and the UK discuss expanding trade and investment cooperation.