oaring above a golden steppe eagle in the center;
on the hoist side is a "national ornamentation" in yellow

Economy
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Economic overview: Kazakstan, the second largest of the former
Soviet states in territory, possesses enormous untapped fossil-fuel
reserves as well as plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals.
It also has considerable agricultural potential with its vast steppe
lands accommodating both livestock and grain production. Kazakstan's
industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these
natural resources and also on a relatively large machine building
sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors,
agricultural machinery, and some defense items. The breakup of the
USSR and the collapse of demand for Kazakstan's traditional heavy
industry products have resulted in a sharp contraction of the
economy since 1991, with the steepest annual decline occurring in
1994. The government has pursued a moderate program of economic
reform and privatization, resulting in a gradual lifting of state
controls over economic activity and a shifting of assets into the
private sector. Nevertheless, government control over key sectors of
the economy remains strong. Moreover, continued lack of pipeline
transportation for expanded oil exports has closed off a likely
source of economic recovery.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $46.9 billion (1995 estimate as
extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)

GDP real growth rate: -8.9% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $2,700 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 28.5%
industry: 41.5%
services: 30% (1991 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 60.3% (1995 est.)

Labor force: 7.356 million
by occupation: industry and construction 31%, agriculture and
forestry 26%, other 43% (1992)

Unemployment rate: 1.4% includes only officially registered
unemployed; also large numbers of underemployed workers (September
1995 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries: oil, coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc,
copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, sulfur, iron
and steel, nonferrous metal, tractors and other agricultural
machinery, electric motors, construction materials; much of
industrial capacity is shut down and/or is in need of repair

Industrial production growth rate: -8% (1995)