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According to information provided on Monday, the population growth for 2025 was uneven: only five regions of the country, including three major cities, as well as Almaty and Mangistau regions, showed results above the national average.
Astana became the leader in migration growth, increasing by 7.16%, and now its population stands at 1.64 million people. Shymkent recorded a growth of 2.98%, while Almaty saw an increase of 2.44%. More than a quarter of all citizens of Kazakhstan live in these three megacities.
Conversely, in 11 out of 20 regions of the country, a decrease in the number of residents was observed, caused by high migration. This concerns the Zhambyl, Turkestan, West Kazakhstan, Kostanay, North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar, Karaganda, East Kazakhstan regions, as well as Abai, Zhetysu, and Ulytau.
The North Kazakhstan region ranked first in terms of population decline with a rate of -1.53%, followed by Abai (-1.19%) and Ulytau (-1.04%). In three regions — North Kazakhstan, East Kazakhstan, and Kostanay — there was a natural decrease, where the number of deaths exceeded the number of newborns.
A positive migration balance, apart from the megacities, is observed only in Almaty and Mangistau regions, while in other regions, the number of those who left exceeds the number of arrivals. In 2025, the largest migration outflow was recorded in Turkestan region (-42.2 thousand people), Zhambyl (-21.4 thousand), and Zhetysu (-12.4 thousand).
The urban population of Kazakhstan increased by 2.01% in 2025, reaching 13,030 thousand people, while the rural population decreased by 0.59%, totaling 7,466 thousand people. Thus, the share of urban residents rose to 63.6%, while that of rural residents decreased to 36.4%.
