Kazakhstan Faces Depopulation
Residents of the northern territories of Kazakhstan are fleeing to Russia, as well as to the major industrial centers of this former Soviet republic in Central Asia
Over the next 20 to 25 years, the northern regions of Kazakhstan risk losing a quarter of their current population if the government of this largest and most economically developed former Soviet republic in Central Asia postpones measures aimed at improving the socio-economic situation of the area.
This conclusion was reached by the participants of the international conference on demographic trends in Kazakhstan and four other Central Asian countries, which was organized by the Seifullin Agrotechnical University of Astana (the capital of Kazakhstan). The rather alarming trends were illustrated by Kairat Bodaukhan (pictured), scientist and member of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences, who believes that the flight of residents from the northern regions of Kazakhstan is primarily due to “insufficient infrastructure development, as well as economic and social problems that have plagued the region for many years.” To stop the dangerous trend, “it is necessary to attract investors to create jobs and improve the living conditions of residents moving to neighboring Russia or to the top three largest population centers in the country: Almaty, Astana, and Karaganda.”
“Depopulation has turned many rural settlements in northern Kazakhstan into ‘ghost villages,’” Academician Bodaukhan emphasized. Many conference participants, including Bekbol Orynbasarov, a member of Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament, said that “it is extremely important to use a scientific approach when solving depopulation problems.” In 2023, the Parliament of Kazakhstan created a special working group to analyze processes related to internal migration in order to develop a strategy aimed at optimizing the rational distribution of the workforce in Kazakhstan.