Trade and investment between Kazakhstan and Israel

Trade, investment and projects describe different parts of the economy

Official reports on Kazakhstan and Israel often place three types of information side by side: trade turnover, foreign direct investment and lists of joint projects. They overlap only in part.

Trade turnover measures the value of goods imported and exported over a given period. Foreign direct investment statistics record an investor's investment in a business in another country. Depending on the measure, this can include equity, debt instruments and reinvested earnings. A project register records what companies plan to build or have already built.

Trade varies considerably from year to year

The Kazakhstan embassy in Israel publishes a series of official figures that shows the scale of these fluctuations.

The final row covers part of a year and cannot be compared directly with a full calendar year. The Bureau of National Statistics published its country table for January–July 2026 on 15 September. A secondary analysis of State Revenue Committee data puts trade with Israel at USD 75.2 million for that period.

The series shows that bilateral trade has not followed a steady upward path. After the exceptionally high figure for 2022, turnover fell for three successive years. The trend changed again in 2026: the January–July figure was 30.3% above the same period in 2025.

The composition of trade also changes

One reason lies in the composition of Kazakhstan's exports.

The embassy page containing figures through 2024 identifies hydrocarbons as the main export category, accounting for more than 90% of Kazakhstan's shipments to Israel. The share of more than 90% relates to the figures through 2024 and does not describe the composition of exports in subsequent years.

The full-year breakdown for 2025 looks different. An analysis of foreign trade statistics published in 2026 puts Kazakhstan's exports to Israel at approximately USD 119.4 million. The largest categories were sulphur (USD 62.2 million), crude oil (45.1 million), aluminium wire and cables (9.22 million), and coal (about 1.48 million). Imports from Israel totalled approximately USD 74 million.

The composition changed again in 2026

According to the analysis of State Revenue Committee data, trade turnover reached USD 75.2 million in January–July 2026. Kazakhstan's exports were approximately 38.9 million and its imports from Israel approximately 36.3 million.

Kazakhstan's exports included sulphur, coal and solid fuels made from coal, aluminium conductors, fish products, vehicle spare parts, electronic watches and lentils. Imports from Israel included potash fertilisers, medical instruments and devices, pharmaceuticals, electronic modules, food products and other goods.

Full-year trade in 2025 reached USD 193.5 million

During Gideon Sa'ar's visit in January 2026, Kazakhstan's foreign ministry had only partial-year figures. Trade turnover for January–November 2025 stood at USD 162.4 million, comprising Kazakhstan's exports of 92.1 million and imports of 70.3 million.

A later official embassy publication gives the figure for the whole of 2025: USD 193.5 million. The January report on the visit used the shorter period available at the time.

Shipments may pass through third countries

At a meeting on expanding trade in September 2026, participants noted that some large shipments may pass through third countries. They did not quantify these flows, which the published bilateral statistics do not identify separately.

Foreign direct investment measures a different part of the economy

According to National Bank figures cited by Kazakhstan's embassy, direct investment inflows from Israel were USD 53.7 million in 2024, compared with 79.4 million in 2023. Total gross Israeli investment inflows into Kazakhstan since 2005 exceeded USD 442.2 million. Gross direct investment outflows from Kazakhstan to Israel over the same extended period were approximately USD 14.6 million.

These figures cannot be added to trade turnover or treated as the current value of all Israeli assets in Kazakhstan.

The National Bank explains the methodology for foreign direct investment separately. It can include equity instruments, debt liabilities and reinvested earnings. Gross and net flows are published, as are figures using different accounting principles. Saying “Israel invested USD 442 million” without specifying “gross inflows since 2005” can therefore give a misleading impression of the accumulated capital stock.

Company counts refer to different dates

Earlier bilateral overviews gave different counts of enterprises with Israeli participation. As of 1 October 2019, Kazakhstan's foreign ministry reported 141 enterprises. Materials from 2021 and 2022 listed 151 registered enterprises, of which 93 were active. Another report referred to “more than 160 companies”.

These figures come from publications referring to different dates. The published materials contain no more recent official count of Israeli enterprises for 2026.

What stage have the projects reached?

Mekorot and water infrastructure

At the business forum on 27 January 2026, a memorandum of understanding was signed on cooperation in modernising housing, utilities and water infrastructure, involving Mekorot Development & Enterprises Ltd. The memorandum establishes an area of work; it does not establish that a particular facility has been modernised.

A bitumen plant in Atyrau Region

At the same forum, an investment agreement was signed for a project to build a bitumen plant in Atyrau Region.

An investment agreement represents a more specific stage than a declaration of intent, but does not establish that the plant has been commissioned. No independent confirmation that it began operating after the January 2026 signing was found in the available sources.

Renewable energy in East Kazakhstan

The third document signed in January was a memorandum on cooperation in electricity generation using renewable energy sources in East Kazakhstan Region.

The published report identifies a memorandum but gives no project specifications, investor, financing arrangements or construction timetable.

Value LBH in Pavlodar Region

In July 2026, the governor of Pavlodar Region met representatives of Israel's Value LBH. The company is considering a manufacturing and service complex in the Pavlodar special economic zone to produce plastic and metal components for mobile wastewater treatment facilities.

The official report describes a project whose feasibility is under consideration. It does not report the start of construction or the opening of a factory.

EcoInvest and technology transfer

The Turkistan regional administration reports Polish capital in the EcoInvest complex in Karamurt. In its own case study, Netafim describes the design, irrigation and support it provided for the same project. This is a supplier's account; it does not make the investment Israeli. 1 2

GEFF describes a subsequent solar power project separately from the Netafim project. 3

In brief

• 2020. Trade turnover was USD 376.1 million.
• 2021. Trade turnover was USD 264.4 million.
• 2022. Trade turnover was USD 882.9 million, the highest figure in the available series for 2020–2025.
• 2023. Trade turnover was USD 462.3 million.
• 2024. Trade turnover was USD 236.155 million. Kazakhstan's exports were USD 167.613 million and imports USD 68.542 million.
• 2025. Final trade turnover was USD 193.5 million. Kazakhstan's exports were approximately USD 119.4 million and imports approximately USD 74 million.
• January–July 2026. Trade turnover was USD 75.2 million according to the analysis of State Revenue Committee data. This covers part of the year.
• Foreign direct investment. Gross inflows from Israel into Kazakhstan since 2005 exceeded USD 442.2 million. This is not a measure of the current stock of Israeli capital.
• 2024. Direct investment inflows from Israel were USD 53.7 million, compared with USD 79.4 million in 2023.
• Projects in 2026. The documents establish that memoranda and an agreement were signed for Mekorot, the bitumen plant and renewable energy. They contain no information establishing that the facilities were completed.
• Value LBH's project in Pavlodar. As of July 2026, it remained a prospective project under consideration.