ASTANA—Kazakhstan recorded a trade surplus of $13.3 billion from January through July 2024, indicating a robust increase in its economic performance compared to the previous year.

According to Trend News Agency, calculations based on the weekly macroeconomic review of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) show that this indicator increased by 35.7 percent ($3.5 billion) compared to the same period last year. The significant uptick in the trade balance was primarily driven by a modest rise in the nominal volume of exports by 2.2 percent year-on-year coupled with a more substantial decrease in imports by 6.9 percent. Key contributors to the export increase were the energy resources and chemical products sectors, each adding 1.4 percentage points to the growth. However, the overall export growth was tempered by declines in the value of exported animal and plant products, which fell by 1.3 percent, and a slight reduction in the supply of machinery and equipment by 0.4 percent.

On the import side, the decline was largely attributed to reduced purchases of machinery and equipment, which dropped by 5.1 percentage points, and a fall in imports of mineral products by 1.6 percent. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a multilateral institution supporting private sector development in 36 countries, has been instrumental in fostering economic growth in Kazakhstan since the country joined the bank in 1992. To date, the EBRD has invested £10.2 billion in 324 projects in the country, with a focus on bolstering private entrepreneurship through 113 ongoing projects valued at £2.8 billion.