8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Asia / Central Asia

Born in Kazakhstan

About 1 in 323 people born in 2023 started life in Kazakhstan. A boy can expect to live 70 years and a girl 78, up from 51 and 60 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 323
odds of being born here
409,400 births · Ranked 61st of 230
70 / 78
years of life, boys / girls
Was 51 / 60 in 1950
$5,803
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 109th of 203 · extrapolated
62%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 19 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 130 in every 1,000 births to 9.5.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth70.1 years for boys, 78.4 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 59.5 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year136,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.8World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles99%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.3%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year49 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 4.6 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.0.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.01UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.0 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 39 and the poorest fifth 10.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
10%Poorest fifth
13%Second
16%Middle
22%Fourth
39%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $5,803 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth39% / 10% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.8% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises14.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person3.6% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming12% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed26% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment95% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Almaty, with 2.0 million people.

62%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
98%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Almaty2.0 million
Astana1.5 million
Shymkent1.2 million
Aktobe500,757
Karagandy497,777
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Russian72%
Kazakh64%
English15%
German6%
Uyghur2%
Russian, Kazakh is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Almaty2.0 million
Astana1.5 million
Shymkent1.2 million
Karaganda869,349
Aktobe598,827
Kyzylorda511,391
Zhambyl500,377
Turkistan497,601
Pavlodar Region495,280
Kostanay459,104

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 21 regions
  • Almaty2.0 million
  • Astana1.5 million
  • Shymkent1.2 million
  • Karaganda869,349
  • Aktobe598,827
  • Kyzylorda511,391
  • Zhambyl500,377
  • Turkistan497,601
  • Pavlodar Region495,280
  • Kostanay459,104
  • East Kazakhstan454,347
  • Atyrau Oblisi388,248
  • Abai Region367,060
  • West Kazakhstan364,799
  • Aqmola313,956
  • Mangystau282,409
  • Zhetysu Region248,391
  • North Kazakhstan200,920
  • Almaty Region186,248
  • Ulytau Region174,139
  • Baikonur70,000

People on the move

About 14% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Russia, Germany, Ukraine.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Russia1,321,004
Germany896,268
Ukraine228,982
Residents born abroad10.1% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 13.6% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostRussia (1.3 million), Germany (896,268), Ukraine (228,982)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $236.8 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

96% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 23%.

96%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
23%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202419,072Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19502NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Kazakhstan, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Kazakhstan

Elsewhere in Asia

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences