Rural areas of Kazakhstan are emptying at an alarming rate, according to fresh data published by the country’s Bureau of National Statistics.

Authorities recorded the rural population deficit (arrivals minus departures) at over 111,000 in 2024, the highest number since the government started keeping track of such data in 2000, the official KazTAG news agency reported. Kazakhstan has an overall population of 20mn. 

The Bureau reported that the exodus from villages to cities is prevalent across the country. The rural population in only two of the country’s 17 regions recorded slight growth, Almaty (+7,600 overall), which surrounds the country’s commercial capital of the same name, and Atyrau (+275), which is an energy extraction hub.

The natural increase in population couldn’t fully offset the rural out-migration deficit, as births in rural areas outpaced deaths by 98,000, the statistics agency added. 

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s urban population expanded by 267,000, and now accounts for 63% of the Kazakh population.

The methodology for measuring internal migration in Kazakhstan has come under scrutiny in the past. The statistics generally lacked a detailed demographic breakdown, including the age and gender of those moving around internally. 

But a 2024 report issued by the International Organization for Migration noted that governmental agencies in Kazakhstan were making improvements. “There are significant attempts at using Big Data technologies, such as its use to track internal migration from anonymized data from phone operator Kazakhtelecom,” the IOM report notes. “The Kazkah government [is]] making significant attempts at creating a unified governmental platform, Smart Data Ukimet, [which] will synthesize all administrative and governmental data.”

This article first appeared on Eurasianet here.