Key economic highlights in 2022 in Kazakhstan

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - This year, the economic course of Kazakhstan continues with a focus on reducing monopolies in the economy, fighting rising inflation and minimizing the adverse impact of external shocks. More about the results that the Kazakh government achieved in 2022 is in the latest article of Kazinform.

The global economy endured a tough year and is expected to face a recession this year. The latest World Economic Outlook, released in October by the International Monetary Fund, lowered its global growth forecast for 2023 to 2.7 percent. It also forecasts the countries that account for more than one-third of global output to contract.

But economic turmoil is also accompanied by the COVID-19 consequences that continue to linger, including disruptions to food, fertilizer, energy supplies, and education losses.

Kazakhstan, like many other countries in the world, faced unprecedented economic and social challenges in 2022. It was amplified by the disruption of production, logistics and trade chains amid geopolitical tensions that led to declining business activity and rising prices for goods and services.

According to the data from the Kazakh government, for the 11 months of 2022, GDP grew by 2.7 percent, foreign trade increased by 34 percent to $111 billion, and exports by 45 percent, including manufacturing goods by 35 percent. The volume of investment in fixed assets grew by 6.6 percent.

The inflow of investments in education, trade, construction, transport and logistics, agriculture and industry increased significantly in the main sectors of the economy.

Inflation

One of the most acute problems in 2022 was the rise in food prices, affecting not only Kazakhstan but also seemingly stable economies, such as the European Union, United States, and Southeast Asia.

The annual inflation rate in the US reached 7.1 percent in November 2022, the lowest since December 2021, and below 7.3 percent forecast, according to U.S. Labor Department data published on December 13.