Last year was marked by significant changes in the economic structure of Kazakhstan. As a result of low oil prices, the crude oil export revenues reduced to $22.3 billion, which is even lower than in 2015 when it was $31.1 billion and three times lower than in 2011 when it reached $62.3 billion. Despite the fact that the share of the oil sector in the production of goods excluding the service sector slightly increased from 35.6% in 2015 to over 35.9% in 2016, it is worth noticing that during the last year the share of the oil sector in exports of Kazakhstan reduced from 75%-80% to 60% in average. Therefore, decreasing size of the oil sector of the economy in exports and uncertainties in future oil prices combined with budget deficits (8%-11%) that persist throughout the last 5-6 years raise concerns over the possibilities of economic growth in the near future. Consequently, the development of the non-oil sector and its increasing share in exports are of significant importance for the economy of Kazakhstan.
Kanat Makhanov is a research fellow at the Eurasian Institute of the International H.A Yassawi Kazakh-Turkish University. He holds a BA in Business Economics from the KIMEP University from 2012. In 2014 he earned his Masters degree in Economics from the University of Vigo (Spain), completing his thesis on “Industrial Specialization in autonomous regions of Spain and Kazakhstan”. His main research interests are Spatial Economics, Economic Geography, Regional Economics, Human and Economic Geography.