Kazakhstan Expands Re-export of Consumer and Complex Electronics: Refrigeration Equipment Exports Up 65.5%

Kazakhstan is strengthening its role as a transit hub for redirecting imported consumer and complex electronics to neighbouring countries. According to calculations by the Energyprom.kz editorial team based on data from the National Statistics Bureau (NSB) of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2024 and 2025, the export-to-import ratio increased in seven of eight categories of high-tech products and household appliances; a decline was recorded in only one.

Photo: Ruslan Pryanikov

Methodology and Context

The calculated export share of total imports reflects the portion of foreign supplies that could subsequently have been re-exported. The term "re-export" is used because, according to the NSB consumer goods matrix, most products in these categories fall into the so-called red zone: domestic market sales are primarily driven by imports, while local production of certain types of equipment is minimal.

Dynamics by Product Group

The largest year-on-year increase in the export share of imports was recorded for:

• telephone apparatus — from 8.1% to 26.7%;
• broadcasting and television transmission equipment — from 18.7% to 23.7%;
• monitors and projectors — from 19% to 22%;
• computers — from 14.7% to 15.1%.

In the vacuum cleaner segment, imports fell by 42.9% (to 10,000 tonnes), while exports rose by 54.8% (to 1,400 tonnes). For telephone apparatus, imports decreased by 38% (to 6,700 tonnes), while overseas sales more than doubled (to 1,800 tonnes).

Refrigeration Equipment and Washing Machines

Refrigeration equipment showed simultaneous growth in both components: imports increased by 7% (to 65,100 tonnes), exports — by 65.5% (to 7,300 tonnes), confirming Kazakhstan's role as a transit hub for this category. In the washing machine segment, imports rose by 2.5% (to 46,800 tonnes), exports — by 20.3% (to 14,600 tonnes).

Import Sources

The main supplier of high-tech products and household appliances to Kazakhstan in 2025 was China: in most categories, China's share exceeded 50%, reaching 84.9% in the computer segment. Russia maintained a share in the range of 1.6% to 29.7%, remaining a significant supplier primarily in the refrigeration equipment and washing machine segments. European countries accounted for 20% of dishwasher supplies; Indonesia and Vietnam had a combined share of nearly 33% in the monitors and projectors category. Individual niche positions: 8.5% of dishwasher supplies from Turkey, 6.3% of refrigeration equipment imports from Uzbekistan.

Export Destinations

The 2025 export structure is oriented toward two key directions — Russia and Central Asian countries. In household appliance categories (washing and dishwashing machines, refrigerators), Central Asian countries accounted for 34.8% to 78.3% of the physical volume of sales. In categories with a higher technological component (computers, telephone apparatus, transmission equipment), the Russian direction dominated: Russia's share in exports ranged from 82.6% to 91.4%.

Changes in Supplies to Russia

The largest increase in the physical volume of exports to Russia was recorded in the category "Machines for receiving, processing, and transmitting data": a 6.2-fold increase in physical volume alongside a 3.4-fold increase in value. For telephone apparatus, physical supply volumes grew 2.3-fold, while value increased by 43.5%. A decline in physical export volume was noted in the segments of digital data processing units (down 29.9%), input or output devices (down 11.8%), and monitors and projectors (down 7.3%).

2022 Context

In 2022, when sanctions restricted the import of many goods into Russia, domestic demand was compensated by re-export: exports of portable computers from Kazakhstan to Russia grew 44-fold — from 13.3 to 597.8 tonnes. After trade flows were restructured, supply volumes from Kazakhstan declined year on year. Only in the 2025 results was growth observed for the first time since that spike — no longer shock-like, but still significant: 37.8%.

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