BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 2. In 2022, the number of active SMEs in Kazakhstan increased by 27 percent, surpassing 1.8 million, Alibek Kuantyrov, Kazakh Economy Minister, said, Trend reports.
He made the remark while addressing the meeting of the AMANAT party in the parliament.
As he presented the latest statistics on Kazakhstan's labor force, it was revealed that, as of 2022, the country's workforce stands at 9.4 million people, marking an increase of 448,000 individuals over the past decade.
Of the total working population, 9 million individuals are currently employed. Among them, 6.8 million are wage workers, while 2.1 million are self-employed, including 1.6 million individual entrepreneurs.
Furthermore, the total number of people employed in the SMEs sector rose by 18.3 percent to reach 4.1 million individuals. As a result, the share of SMEs in the economy grew from 33.3 percent to 36.5 percent.
Minister Kuantyrov also spoke about socio-economic indicators. He stated that 5.2 percent of the population had incomes below the subsistence minimum, while the unemployment rate stood at 4.9 percent. Additionally, wages accounted for 30.8 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reflecting the significance of labor compensation in the economy.
These figures indicate promising trends in Kazakhstan's labor market and small business sector, emphasizing the government's efforts to improve income levels and foster economic growth for the well-being of its citizens.