Kazakhstan's outbound remittances fall 7.2% to 238 bln tenge in Jan-May
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Kazakhstan residents sent 238 billion tenge abroad via money transfer systems in January–May 2026, down 7.2% year-on-year, according to Ranking.kz. Incoming transfers totaled 78.1 billion tenge, a decline of nearly 10%, leaving an outflow gap of roughly 3:1. Russia remained the top destination, receiving 97.8 billion tenge, up 15.8% from a year earlier.
Outflow Dominance
Outbound transfers exceeded inbound ones by a factor of three, with 238 billion tenge sent abroad versus 78.1 billion tenge received. The total volume of international transfers continued to decline from the 2022 peak, when outflows reached 391.4 billion tenge in the same period, a drop of nearly 40%. The net outflow reflects a persistent structural imbalance in cross-border money flows.
Russia's Growing Share
Russia accounted for 41.1% of all outbound transfers, up from 32.9% a year earlier, receiving 97.8 billion tenge. Transfers to Uzbekistan fell 26.7% to 50.2 billion tenge, and those to Turkey dropped 22.7% to 38.7 billion tenge, driving the overall decline. Flows to Armenia and South Korea rose, reaching 4.3 billion and 2.6 billion tenge respectively.
Inbound Transfer Trends
Incoming transfers from Russia fell 13.7% to 17.9 billion tenge, though Russia remained the top source. Transfers from the United States and Turkey increased, lifting Turkey to third place among inbound origins. Despite the rise, total inbound flows remain far below outbound volumes.
What's Next
The trend of declining overall transfer volumes may continue as the post-2022 normalization persists. It remains unclear whether the growing share of transfers to Russia reflects deeper economic ties or other factors, and whether the outflow gap will narrow.
3 sources
Kazakhstan's outbound remittances fall 7.2% to 238 bln tenge in Jan-May
