ASTANA — The population of Kazakhstan reached 20,478,879 people as of Dec. 1, 2025, according to the Bureau of National Statistics. Since the beginning of 2025, the country’s population has increased by 195,480 people, up from 20,283,399 at the start of the year.
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The largest share of the population is concentrated in the country’s major cities and southern regions. Almaty remains the most populous city with 2,345,012 residents, followed by the Turkistan Region with 2,148,168 people. Astana ranks third with a population of 1,630,640, while the Almaty Region has 1,592,652 residents.
Several other regions and cities also exceed the one-million population mark. These include Shymkent, with 1,291,011 people, the Zhambyl Region with 1,215,892, and the Karagandy Region with 1,131,438 residents, the report said, published on Jan. 5.
At the same time, a number of regions remain sparsely populated. The Ulytau Region has the smallest population, with 219,200 people, followed by the North Kazakhstan Region (514,732) and the Abai Region (596,000).
As of Dec. 1 last year, 13,013,064 citizens live in urban areas, while 7,465,815 people reside in rural settlements.
