Nearly 16 Million Foreign Visitors Traveled to Kazakhstan in 2025

Kazakhstan welcomed 15.7 million foreign visitors in 2025, an increase of 6.5 million from 2023, the government said.

Of the total number of foreign visitors, 11.1 million were classified as tourists. They spent $2.9 billion in Kazakhstan.

The number of foreign visitors staying in hotels and other accommodations is also rising. The figure increased from 1 million in 2023 to 1.29 million in 2024 and 1.43 million in 2025.

The Almaty region recorded the largest increase in inbound tourism last year, at 29.7%, followed by the Zhetysu region at 25.88% and the Kyzylorda region at 25.5%.

The number of tourists from China rose significantly, increasing by 46.8% to more than 960,000.

Kazakhstan welcomed 7 million foreign visitors in the first half of 2026. Uzbekistan accounted for the largest number, at 2.5 million, followed by Kyrgyzstan with 1.6 million and Russia with 1.5 million.

Domestic tourism also continues to grow. The number of Kazakh citizens traveling within the country rose from 7.1 million in 2023 to 8.7 million in 2025.

Investment in the sector is increasing alongside tourist arrivals. More than 2.2 trillion tenge was invested in tourism in 2024 and 2025. Kazakhstan is currently implementing 328 tourism projects worth about 1.3 trillion tenge. They are expected to create about 10,000 permanent jobs and add 25 new internationally rated hotel complexes.

The tourism industry’s total contribution to Kazakhstan’s economy reached 5 trillion tenge in 2025, while employment in the sector exceeded 600,000.