Over 3,000 ethnic Kazakhs have returned to Kazakhstan since early 2025
According to the Migration Committee of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 3,203 ethnic Kazakhs returned to their historical homeland in 2025 and received the status of Kandas. Since 1991, the total number of returned ethnic Kazakhs has exceeded 1 million 151 thousand people, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Since the beginning of this year, the majority of those who arrived are from China - 48.1%, followed by citizens of Uzbekistan - 39.5%, Turkmenistan - 5.8%, Mongolia - 2.5%, Russia - 1.9% and other countries - 2.2%.
“As of April 1, 2025, the number of ethnic migrants of working age is 60.7%, minors - 31.1% and pensioners - 8.2%. Of the working-age kandas, by level of education, 17.9% have higher education, 27.8% secondary specialized education, 52.9% general secondary education and 1.4% have no education,” the committee detailed.
Ethnic Kazakhs are settling throughout the country. The main regions where there is a shortage of labor and where kandas are sent are Akmola, Abay, Kostanay, Pavlodar, Atyrau, West, East and North Kazakhstan regions.
The department also reported that as of April 1, 2025, 642 kandas have been sent to the resettlement regions. State support measures are provided for them, including one-time payments for moving (70 MCI) and monthly subsidies for housing and utilities (from 15 to 30 MCI during the year). Since the beginning of the year, 147 kandas have received assistance, of which 94 are employed. An economic mobility certificate has also been introduced, supporting the purchase or construction of housing, up to 4.56 million tenge per family.
