The city of Almaty, as one of the main economic centers of Kazakhstan, continues to strengthen its potential this year and achieve significant results in terms of economic growth, entrepreneurship development and improving the quality of life of the city's residents. The initiatives and measures implemented within the framework of the strategic plans of the megacity have contributed to the improvement of the main socio-economic indicators of the city.
Economic growth rates: In 2023, Almaty saw an increase in the gross regional product to 24.8 trillion tenge, which was a record figure for the past 10 years. In 2024, the city maintains high rates of economic development at the level of 9.7%. Following the results of 11 months of 2024, the short-term economic indicator of Almaty accelerated to 6.6%. By the end of the year, the growth of the megacity's economy is projected at 5.5%,
and in 2025, it will accelerate to 6.4%.
SME development: The main driver of economic diversification in Almaty is the development of small and medium-sized businesses. Today, more than 85% of the total number of people employed in the city, or about 942 thousand Almaty residents, work in this field.
In order to maintain and develop SMEs, 53.1 billion tenge was allocated from the budget in 2024 to support 1.8 thousand new projects. 71 billion tenge is planned for 2025, which will support another 2 thousand new SME projects. By 2030, the contribution of small and medium-sized businesses to the city's economy should reach 70%.
Investment potential: Thanks to the measures taken, Almaty has become the country's main hub for investments in the non-resource sector.
For 11 months of this year, 1.5 trillion tenge of investments in fixed assets were attracted in Almaty. The largest increase in investments is noted in the manufacturing industry (an increase of 2 times, the share is 6.8%), education (+61.1%, the share is 5.3%), electricity and heat supply (+54.7%, the share is 3.8%), transport (+32.5%, the share is 15.6%), healthcare (+26.3%, share – 4.3%), water supply and sanitation (+21.0%, share – 2.0%). This confirms the qualitative change in the structure of investments for the development of priority sectors of the economy. In general, it is planned to attract 2 trillion tenge to the city's economy in 2024 and 2.3 trillion tenge in 2025.
Improving the welfare of the population: The most important priority
The aim of the work is to improve the well-being of Almaty residents. Taking into account current inflation, the average monthly salary in Almaty increased by 6.1% in real terms and amounted to 470 thousand tenge. Among other things, the indicator has increased
in the fields of education – by 10.8%, as well as health and social security – by 17.9%.
Job creation and unemployment reduction: 68,000 jobs have been created since the beginning of this year. It is important to note that 82% of the jobs created are permanent. As a result, the unemployment rate
in Almaty, it decreased to 4.6%.
Much attention is paid to social workplaces, which are created by employers on a contractual basis with M&E. In Almaty, this work is carried out in six main areas: social workplaces, community service, youth practice, projects "First workplace", "Generation Contract", "Silver Age".
Thanks to these measures, in particular, the youth unemployment rate has decreased from 5.6% in early 2023 to 4.5% in the second quarter of 2024. On behalf of Almaty Mayor Yerbolat Dosayev, the City's Career Center has been operating in the metropolis for more than a year. Since its launch, in February 2023, more than 4 thousand young people have already applied to it.
In general, Almaty continues to strengthen its status as one of the leading economic centers of Central Asia, with sustainability and high potential.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/almaty/press/news/details/905487