The number of employed women in Kazakhstan reached 4.527 million in the first quarter of 2026, up 42,600, or 0.9%, from the same period last year, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the National Statistics Bureau of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms.
According to a sample employment survey, 3,602,000 women (79.6%) are employed, while 925,100 (20.4%) are self-employed.
Education remains the largest employer of women, with 902,200 workers, representing 19.9% of all employed women.
Wholesale and retail trade ranks second with 877,600 women (19.4%), followed by healthcare and social work activities, employing 426,300 women (9.4%).
A significant number of women also work in industry, with 388,100 employees (8.6%), and in agriculture, forestry and fishing, with 351,200 workers (7.8%).
The highest annual growth in female employment was recorded in real estate activities, up 25.7%, followed by administrative and support services (21.9%), transportation and warehousing (16.2%), and industry (7.6%).
Regionally, the most significant increases in the number of employed women were observed in the Karaganda region (7.8%), Aktobe region (6.5%), Almaty (6.3%), and the Turkistan region (6.1%).
The majority of employed women live in cities. In urban areas, their number reached 3,008,500.
