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The prices of stationery and books have risen by 1.6% over the past year.

According to official data, residents of Almaty spend 12 times more on books and stationery than those in Mangistau.
The prices of stationery and books have risen by 1.6% over the past year.

As of October this year, the prices for stationery and books in Kazakhstan have increased by 1.6% year-on-year. Books have become 1.2% more expensive, stationery items by 2%, including ballpoint pens which rose by 6.7%, sets of colored pencils by 6.3%, A4 paper by 2.2%, and drawing and drafting albums by 1.3%. However, the prices for school notebooks decreased by 0.7%, reports energyprom.kz.

Regionally, the highest price increase was recorded in the Atyrau region: a staggering 20.7% over the year. Following closely were the Abai region (8%) and Almaty (7.8%). The smallest annual price increase was noted in Astana: just 0.1%. In eight out of 20 regions of Kazakhstan, there was a decrease in prices for books and stationery. The least decrease was observed in the Almaty region (0.3%), while the largest was in the East Kazakhstan region (9%).

Experts from the publication sought to investigate how this modest price increase in the sector affected the spending habits of Kazakhstani residents. In the second quarter of this year, the average expenditure of residents on newspapers, books, and stationery amounted to 271 tenge per capita — 13.1% less than in the same period of 2023. Regionally, the highest spending on stationery and newspapers was recorded in Almaty: 566 tenge, compared to 876 tenge the previous year. The annual reduction in spending in the southern capital was 35.4% (the most significant decrease among all regions of Kazakhstan). The East Kazakhstan and Karaganda regions followed with expenses of 477 tenge and 449 tenge respectively.

The residents of the Mangistau region had the lowest expenditures: according to official data, only 49 tenge per quarter per resident, plus 11.4% year-on-year. The highest increase in spending in the sector was noted in Shymkent — by 52.8%, but only up to 55 tenge.

It is indeed strange that, according to official statistics, residents of Almaty spend 12 times more on stationery and books than those in Mangistau, but our overall statistics often appear, shall we say, questionable.

How do expenses for education look? Will there be similar peculiarities here? In the second quarter of this year, expenditures on education amounted to 5.1 thousand tenge per capita — 3.3% less than the previous year. 38.9% of all expenses were allocated to preschool education fees: 2 thousand tenge. Following this were expenditures on food (705 tenge per capita for the quarter), higher education fees (637 tenge), general secondary education fees (406 tenge), housing rental for students (276 tenge), transportation costs (262 tenge), and informal educational expenses (192 tenge). According to official statistics, Kazakhstani residents spent 7 tenge per quarter on textbooks, down from 9 tenge the previous year.

Regarding the change in prices, educational services as of October this year, according to official data, have increased by 8.4% year-on-year. This includes a 5.8% increase in the cost of preschool and primary education, 8% for secondary education, 12.3% for vocational secondary education, 10.3% for higher education, and 16.7% for adult education.

The most significant rise in education costs was felt by residents of the Pavlodar (up 14.9% year-on-year), Akmolinsk (up 12.7%), and Kostanay (up 11.5%) regions. The smallest annual price increase was recorded in Shymkent: just 2%.

Meanwhile, according to public surveys conducted in the spring of 2024, 54.5% of respondents were satisfied with the accessibility of preschool education services, 62% for general secondary education, 52% for vocational education, and 45.4% for higher and postgraduate education. Only partial satisfaction with the accessibility of preschool education services was expressed by 29.7% of respondents, 26% for general secondary education, 30.8% for vocational education, and 35.8% for higher and postgraduate education. A mere 1.3% of respondents were completely dissatisfied with the accessibility of preschool education, 0.5% for general secondary, 1% for vocational, and 1.7% for higher and postgraduate education.