Over the first eight months of 2026, net dollar sales at exchange offices in Kazakhstan approached the 1 trillion tenge mark, while interest in other currencies was far more modest and the Russian ruble slipped into negative territory. The figures come from the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, according to infohub.kz.
August noticeably revived demand for dollars. According to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, net sales (sales minus purchases by exchange offices) of the US currency totaled 141.40 billion tenge for the month. By comparison, the figure stood at 123.03 billion in July and just 65.32 billion tenge in May. August's result was thus the highest of 2026 after January, when net dollar sales reached 150.3 billion tenge.
Nearly half of all dollar sales in August came from Almaty — 69.17 billion tenge. Shymkent followed at a considerable distance with 25.99 billion, then the Mangystau (8.42 billion) and Atyrau (7.10 billion) regions, and Astana (6.7 billion). Demand was modest in most other regions, ranging from 1 to 3 billion tenge. In the East Kazakhstan region, residents sold more dollars than they bought: net sales were negative, at minus 407 million tenge for the month.
Demand for the yuan surged unexpectedly in August. It was previously reported that net sales of the Chinese currency had fallen sharply, especially in July, to 12.2 million tenge net for the month. In August, however, demand jumped 11-fold to 134.9 million tenge — the highest level of 2026.
The ruble also posted strong growth. In April, May and June, net sales of the Russian currency were negative, and in July they amounted to just 126.5 million tenge. In August, however, a sharp rise was recorded — to 6.2 billion tenge, 49 times more than a month earlier.
The euro presents the opposite picture. Demand for it fell more than fivefold over the month, to 2.1 billion tenge net. That is the lowest figure for 2026. Demand for the British pound sterling also declined, by 2.5 times, to 145.2 million tenge for the month. Notably, this is not the lowest level: in May, net sales totaled just 83 million tenge.
Over the eight months of 2026, residents of Kazakhstan generated net dollar sales of 951.06 billion tenge. Demand for the euro amounted to 92.04 billion, for the Chinese yuan to 537.9 million, and for the pound sterling to 1.86 billion tenge.
The Russian ruble was the sole exception to the overall picture. Despite positive demand in August, negative figures in earlier months meant that total net sales over the eight months were negative — minus 77.8 billion tenge.
Meanwhile, the Kazakh tenge is strengthening against foreign currencies. The weighted average dollar rate at the close of trading on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) fell by almost 4 points, to 441.89 tenge.