Kazakhstan recorded a total of two million tourists in 2020, ranking 64th in the world in absolute terms.
That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Kazakhstan, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.11 tourists per resident, Kazakhstan ranked 120th in the world. In Central Asia, it ranked 3rd.
In 2020, Kazakhstan generated around 589.00 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.30 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 46 percent of all international tourism receipts in Central Asia.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 275 US dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of Kazakhstan spend as much as 285 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
Development of the tourism sector in Kazakhstan from 1996 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Kazakhstan each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g., crew members of ships or flights are also not considered tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.
Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all 5 countries in Central Asia.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 155.00 million USD, or about 0.76 percent of the gross national product. Within 25 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased drastically. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $2.92 billion billion, 1.6 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $343 on their vacation in Kazakhstan.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $2.92 billion billion (2019), only $589.00 million billion remained. This is a 80 percent decrease in Kazakhstan.
All data for Kazakhstan in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
2.04 m
589.00 m $
0.34 %
289 $
2019
8.52 m
2.92 bn $
1.6 %
343 $
2018
8.79 m
2.65 bn $
1.5 %
302 $
2017
7.70 m
2.36 bn $
1.4 %
306 $
2016
6.51 m
2.04 bn $
1.5 %
313 $
2015
6.43 m
1.83 bn $
0.99 %
285 $
2014
6.33 m
2.24 bn $
1.0 %
354 $
2013
6.84 m
2.37 bn $
1.00 %
346 $
2012
6.16 m
2.15 bn $
1.0 %
350 $
2011
5.69 m
1.52 bn $
0.79 %
268 $
2010
4.10 m
1.24 bn $
0.83 %
302 $
2009
3.77 m
1.19 bn $
1.0 %
314 $
2008
4.12 m
1.26 bn $
0.94 %
305 $
2007
5.31 m
1.21 bn $
1.2 %
229 $
2006
4.71 m
973.00 m $
1.2 %
207 $
2005
4.37 m
801.00 m $
1.4 %
184 $
2004
4.29 m
803.00 m $
1.9 %
187 $
2003
3.24 m
638.00 m $
2.1 %
197 $
2002
3.68 m
680.00 m $
2.8 %
185 $
2001
2.69 m
502.00 m $
2.3 %
186 $
2000
1.68 m
403.00 m $
2.2 %
239 $
1999
394,000
394.00 m $
2.3 %
1,000 $
1998
257,000
454.00 m $
2.1 %
1,767 $
1997
284,000
350.00 m $
1.6 %
1,232 $
1996
202,000
258.00 m $
1.2 %
1,277 $
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The World Tourism Organization additionally points out that in some countries, the number of tourists is only counted at airports, while in others they are also counted at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
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