ALMATY – Household deposits in Kazakhstan’s banks approached nearly 25 trillion tenge (US$53.5 billion) by the end of June 2026, increasing by 20.9% over the year, reported the Finprom financial and analytical agency. While the overall volume of savings continues to grow, deposits remain concentrated in several major cities and regions, revealing significant differences in household savings across the country.
Photo credit: Maxim Zolotukhin/ dknews.kz
Of the total, 84% or 21 trillion tenge (US$44.9 billion) was held in deposits denominated in the national currency, while foreign-currency deposits accounted for 16%. The predominance of tenge deposits is partly linked to the difference in returns. Interest rates on foreign-currency deposits cannot exceed 1%, while tenge deposits have offered comparatively high returns amid the elevated base rate.
Term deposits dominate
Term deposits accounted for 90% of all household deposits, making them by far the most common form of savings. Savings deposits represented 9.7%, while demand deposits accounted for only 0.05%. The concentration of deposits is particularly pronounced geographically.
The city of Almaty remained the country’s largest center for household savings, with 9.6 trillion tenge (US$20.5 billion) deposited in banks as of the end of June. This represented almost 40% of all household deposits in Kazakhstan. Astana followed with 3.2 trillion tenge (US$6.8 billion), while the Karagandy Region held 1.4 trillion tenge (US$3 billion). West Kazakhstan and Shymkent ranked fourth and fifth, with 1.2 trillion (US$2.6 billion) and 1.1 trillion tenge (US$2.4 billion) respectively.
The smallest overall volumes of household deposits were recorded in the Ulytau, Almaty and Zhetisu Regions.
Savings gap exceeds 25 times
The regional differences become even more pronounced when deposits are calculated per resident. As of July 1, Kazakhstan had an average of 1.2 million tenge (US$2,570) in household deposits per person. However, only five regions exceeded the national average.
Almaty ranked first, with more than 4 million tenge (US$8,570) per resident, followed by Astana at 1.9 million tenge (US$4,070). West Kazakhstan recorded 1.7 million tenge (US$3,640) per resident, while the Karagandy and Kostanai Regions each recorded nearly 1.3 million tenge (US$2,780).
In contrast, average deposits per resident amounted to just 144,000 tenge (US$310) in the Almaty Region and 161,000 tenge (US$345) in the Turkistan Region.
Overall, 12 of Kazakhstan’s 20 regions had less than 1 million tenge (US$2,139) in deposits per resident. The difference between the highest and lowest regional figures therefore exceeded 25 times.
The figures point to a banking sector in which household savings are expanding, but where the ability to accumulate financial assets remains closely linked to regional economic conditions. The concentration of almost two-fifths of all household deposits in Almaty, alongside substantially lower savings in several regions, underscores the continuing gap between Kazakhstan’s major economic centers and less affluent areas.
