ALMATY WHO’S COMING
Almaty welcomed 2.49 million visitors in 2025 (+6.3%) — 754,000 of them foreign (+9.9%) — while Kazakhstan’s foreign visits hit 15.7 million and China grew 46.8%; the Real Madrid match alone moved 5,000 foreign fans.
The akimat counted 2,487,889 visitors in 2025: 754,000 foreign (+9.9%) and 1.73 million domestic (+4.8%). The source mix is the new Central Asia: Russia (124,200), China (102,100), India (85,600) and Türkiye (28,700) lead the city’s foreign table, with India at 17% of some quarterly flows and the UAE and Malaysia climbing. Events proved the model: the Kairat–Real Madrid Champions League match brought over 5,000 foreign fans and lifted international card spending 16%; Jennifer Lopez drew 7,000 foreign spectators from 35 countries with an estimated ₸5 billion of direct spending. Mastercard counts foreign visitors spending $441 a day — 8.7 times the domestic guest.
Kazakhstan recorded 15.7 million foreign visits in 2025, of which 11.1 million were classified as tourists (stays over 24 hours); Uzbekistan (5.6 million), Kyrgyzstan (3.5 million) and Russia (3.5 million) dominate a table where much of the flow is cross-border work and family travel rather than classic tourism — only 1.43 million foreigners used registered accommodation. The structural lines are China (+46.8% to 961,600) and India (+66% regionally). H1 2026 kept the pace: about 7 million foreign arrivals nationally, and Almaty airport reporting 2.2 million foreign passengers in five months (+10%).
THE TIO READ
Read Almaty’s arrivals in two layers: the border-flow base (neighbours, repeat, work-and-family) and the event-plus-mountain rim that actually fills hotels. The $441 daily spend is the number that justifies the cranes; the China line decides how many more get built.
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