Kazakhstan's official unemployment rate stood at 4.5% in the third quarter of 2026, with 445,567 people out of work, according to the Bureau of National Statistics, infohub.kz reports.
The figure was unchanged from the previous quarter. The country's labor force totaled 9,848,961 people, of whom 7,247,683 were employed and 2,155,711 were self-employed — a category that includes entrepreneurs, people in private practice and those working as self-employed under a special tax regime.
The 445,567 unemployed were counted under the International Labour Organization (ILO) methodology, which defines unemployment as the share of the labor force aged 15 and older who lacked gainful employment, were actively seeking work and were available to start a job in the near future. In practice, the number of Kazakhs without a source of income may be higher.
Because of these criteria, 4,770,725 citizens were not counted as part of the labor force. This group includes pensioners, students, homemakers and some other categories of the population aged over 15.
By region, Mangystau had the highest unemployment rate at 5.1%, followed by Pavlodar (4.9%) and Zhambyl (4.8%) regions and Shymkent (4.7%).
Almaty recorded an unemployment rate of 4.5% and Astana 4.2%. Karaganda region and Ulytau had the lowest rates, at 4%.
The rate also varies by type of area: it is higher in cities (4.6%) than in rural areas (4.4%).
There is a gender gap as well, with unemployment among men lower than among women — 3.9% versus 5.2%.
Overall, unemployment in Kazakhstan has held steady at 4.5% since the start of 2026, down from 4.6% in 2025.