In January–September of the current year, fixed capital investment in forestry and logging in Kazakhstan reached 8.8 billion tenge — eight times higher (physical volume index: 799.4%) than in the same period of 2024 (1.1 billion tenge) and 4.7 times higher than in January–September 2023 (1.9 billion tenge). For comparison, between 2015 and 2022, capital investment in the sector did not exceed 0.5 billion tenge. Moreover, investment in forestry and logging in the current year alone is already nearly double the record figure for the entire year of 2023 (4.7 billion tenge).
The growth is largely driven by the activation of state programs such as the national project Zhasyl Kazakhstan and the initiative Two Billion Trees by 2025. The total budget of the Zhasyl Kazakhstan national project for 2021–2025 exceeds 1.4 trillion tenge, rising from 90.7 billion tenge in 2021 to 569.6 billion tenge in the current year. The project focuses not only on expanding green areas but also on improving the overall environmental situation, ensuring efficient waste management, rational water use, preserving aquatic ecosystems, and protecting biodiversity, among other goals.
As for the Two Billion Trees by 2025 project, it is aimed at forest restoration. According to a response from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan to a request from bizmedia.kz, 36 billion tenge was allocated for the program’s implementation from 2021 to 2025. Due to poor execution, however, the timeline has been extended until 2027. As of July of the current year, 1.4 billion trees have been planted under the project.
The sharp increase in fixed capital investment in forestry and logging in 2025 has been driven primarily by public funding — both from the national and local budgets. Of the total investment volume in January–September, more than 5.1 billion tenge, or about 60% of all investments, came from government sources, including 2.7 billion tenge from the national budget and 2.4 billion tenge from local budgets.
For comparison, during the same period in 2023, government funding accounted for 22.6% of total investment, all of which came from local budgets, while the main source of capital investment was companies’ own funds (1.5 billion tenge). In 2024, local budget funds totaled 390.9 million tenge (36.2%), data for the national budget were not provided (though it is known that 498.2 million tenge was allocated in total), and companies’ own funds were not used at all.
This structure indicates that private investor activity in the sector remains low, while the increase in investment primarily reflects the impact of budget programs and a surge in the use of public funds. It is likely that entrepreneurs — particularly large ones — should take a more active role in greening initiatives and preserving Kazakhstan’s natural balance, given the importance of this effort for the country’s future.
Despite the explosive growth in investment volume, employment in the sector continues to decline. According to the Bureau of National statistics of Agency for Strategic planning and reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as of the second quarter of the current year, only 1.8 thousand people were employed in forestry and logging, compared to nearly 3 thousand five years ago. The decline in employment may indicate that new investments are primarily directed toward process automation, equipment upgrades, seed and sapling procurement, and infrastructure development, rather than workforce expansion.
Amid the shrinking workforce, wages in the industry have risen sharply. In the second quarter of 2025, the average salary in forestry and logging reached 311.5 thousand tenge — up by 37% year-on-year. For comparison, average wages across the economy grew by 11.3%, from 403.3 thousand to 448.6 thousand tenge, while in the agricultural sector specifically, the increase was 23.7%, reaching 310.8 thousand tenge. This suggests that the industry requires more skilled — and therefore higher-paid — professionals.
The purchasing power of wages in the sector also showed a significant increase — up by 23.3% over the year — while the overall economic indicator remained unchanged. Nevertheless, despite faster growth, wages in forestry and logging remain below the national average: in the second quarter of 2025, the gap stood at just over 30%.
Meanwhile, according to data from the World Bank, the forest area in Kazakhstan has been growing — slowly but steadily — since 2010. If in 2010 the country’s forest area covered 30.8 thousand square kilometers, by 2016 it had expanded to 33.4 thousand square kilometers, and by 2023 it reached 35.4 thousand square kilometers. The average annual growth rate over this period stands at 0.9%.
Given the large-scale tree-planting programs, including the initiatives Two Billion Trees by 2025 and the national project Zhasyl Kazakhstan, the pace of forest expansion is expected to accelerate in the coming years.
