Economy - overview:
Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources. Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 and 8% or more per year in 2002-07 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good harvests, and increased foreign investment; growth slowed to 5% in 2008, however, as a result of declining oil prices and a softening world economy. Inflation reached 10% in 2007 and 18% in 2008. In the energy sector, the opening of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raised export capacity. In 2006 Kazakhstan completed the Atasu-Alashankou portion of an oil pipeline to China that is planned in future construction to extend from the country's Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector by developing its manufacturing potential. The policy changed the corporate tax code to favor domestic industry as a means to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. The government has engaged in several disputes with foreign oil companies over the terms of production agreements, most recently, in regards to the Kashagan project in 2007-08. Since 2007, Astana has provided financial support to the banking sector which has been struggling with poor asset quality and large foreign loans.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$176.9 billion (2008 est.)
$171.7 billion (2007)
$158.3 billion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate):
$141.2 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
3% (2008 est.)
8.5% (2007 est.)
10.6% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita:
$11,500 (2008 est.)
$11,200 (2007 est.)
$10,400 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5.8%
industry: 39.4%
services: 54.7% (2008 est.)

Labor force:
8.358 million (2008 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 31.5%
industry: 18.4%
services: 50% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate:
6.9% (2008 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 26.5% (2004 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
30.4 (2005)

Investment (gross fixed):
27.8% of GDP (2008 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $29.64 billion
expenditures: $32.6 billion (2008 est.)

Public debt:
9.1% of GDP (2008 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
18.6% (2008 est.)

Central bank discount rate:
11% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:
$12.74 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:
$25.75 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:
$43.75 billion (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$41.38 billion (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:
grain (mostly spring wheat), cotton; livestock

Industries:
oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron and steel; tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, construction materials

Industrial production growth rate:
0.7% (2008 est.)

Electricity - production:
74.93 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:
61.81 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:
3.528 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:
3.665 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production:
1.445 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:
243,100 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:
1.236 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - imports:
127,600 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:
30 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production:
27.88 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
30.58 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
8.1 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
10.8 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.832 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:
$326 million (2008 est.)

Exports:
$66.57 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Exports - commodities:
oil and oil products 59%, ferrous metals 19%, chemicals 5%, machinery 3%, grain, wool, meat, coal (2001)

Exports - partners:
China 15.5%, Germany 11.5%, Russia 11.2%, Italy 7.2%, France 6.7% (2007)

Imports:
$37.53 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, metal products, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
Russia 35.4%, China 22.1%, Germany 8% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$22.36 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Debt - external:
$103.6 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$47.66 billion (2008 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$2.188 billion (2008 est.)