Kazakhstan drops state price controls on 1,200 more medicines

Kazakhstan is pressing ahead with the phased removal of state price regulation on medicines, a course set back in 2022. More than 1,200 items have been dropped from the list of regulated drugs, cutting the total from 3,039 to 1,827, the website infohub.kz reports.

The changes cover inexpensive prescription drugs costing less than one monthly calculation index (MCI) — 4,325 tenge in 2026. Their prices will now be set by supply and demand.

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan expects the shift to market pricing to boost competition, broaden the range of products and make medicines more accessible to the public. The Association for the Support and Development of Pharmaceutical Activity shares that assessment. In the organization's view, it is especially significant that deregulation has targeted the cheap segment of the market: stronger competition could make these already inexpensive drugs even cheaper by increasing supply volumes and widening the range available on the Kazakh market. It could also help develop the domestic pharmaceutical industry and the sector as a whole.

If those optimistic forecasts pan out, it will be welcome news, since pharmaceutical products in Kazakhstan have so far been rising in price quite noticeably. According to the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, prices for pharmaceutical products rose 2.3% in August 2026 from a month earlier, while overall inflation was just 0.6%. The monthly rise in pharmaceutical prices was therefore almost four times the overall figure. For reference: non-food goods rose 0.8% over the same period, while healthcare goods and services as a whole rose 1.3%.

"Since the start of the year, prices for pharmaceutical products have risen 13.8%, against 6.4% for all goods and services. In annual terms, pharmaceutical products rose 21.6%, more than double the overall inflation rate (9.8%). Non-food goods rose 11.4% over the year, while healthcare goods and services were up 15%," Energyprom.kz writes.