In the fourth quarter of 2024, a total of 9.2 million individuals were employed across various sectors of Kazakhstan's economy. Among them, 7 million people, or 76.6% of the total employed, were hired workers, while 2.1 million individuals, or 23.4%, were self-employed, according to a report by the correspondent of the business information center Kapital.kz, referencing data from the Bureau of National Statistics.
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, overall employment increased by 154.8 thousand people, primarily due to an increase of 141.5 thousand hired workers and 13.3 thousand self-employed individuals.
The highest share of employed individuals was observed in the trade sector at 16.8%, followed by education at 13.1%, industry at 12.5%, and agriculture at 10.6%.
On average, the number of hours worked per week per employed individual was 39 hours; for hired workers, it was 41 hours, and for self-employed workers, it was 35 hours. The number of people who were unemployed but not seeking work or not ready to start work (potential labor force) amounted to 36.2 thousand individuals. The share of individuals not included in the labor force was 31.8% of the population aged 15 and older.
"The unemployment rate based on ILO methodology decreased by 0.1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, reaching 4.6%," the bureau reported.
As of the end of December 2024, 191.9 thousand individuals were officially registered as unemployed with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population. The share of registered unemployed increased by 0.2 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, making up 2% of the labor force.
The unemployment rate among youth aged 15 to 34 was 3.3%.
It was previously reported that in 2024, the "Silver Age" project facilitated the employment of 19,199 individuals. The highest number of employed individuals was recorded in Turkestan region - 2,441, in Zhambyl region - 1,845, and in Karaganda region - 1,471. Moreover, by the end of 2024, the number of recipients of social payments due to job loss from the State Social Insurance Fund (SSIF) totaled 293.6 thousand individuals.