Photo: Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz / Pexels
The share of Kazakhstan’s population living below the national poverty line fell from 18.2% in 2006 to 4.9% in 2025. That is a nearly fourfold reduction over 19 years. The World Bank attributes the improvement mainly to rising earnings, inbusiness.kz reports.
What happened
The World Bank outlined the changes in its October Poverty & Equity Brief, a report on poverty and inequality. Its experts estimate that poverty fell across all regions of Kazakhstan.
Income from work was the main driver of the improvement. Rising earnings helped families move above the national poverty line used to calculate this measure.
What this means
One detail matters here: the figure measures the share of people living below a specific income threshold. It shows a decline in poverty over a long period, rather than the size of each worker’s pay rise.
The link to earnings explains why job creation remains one of the main ways to tackle poverty. Steady, decent-paying work helps families earn a reliable income and reduces their risk of poverty.
Further income growth requires new jobs, skills development and higher labour productivity. These efforts complement wage increases.
