The First Price Hike of 2026: Bread Prices Rise by 1.8%

According to the First Credit Bureau (FCB), early 2026 saw the most significant price increase in nearly four years for socially significant bread made from first-grade flour in Kazakhstan.

"The beginning of the new year was marked by a jump in prices for bread made from first-grade flour: between December 30 and January 8, the product's price increased by an average of 1.8% across the Republic of Kazakhstan. This growth rate is the most significant in the weekly statistics for this product since mid-March 2022," the report stated on Monday.

However, analysts emphasize that the average figure does not imply a uniform price increase across the entire country. Out of 20 surveyed cities, the dynamics remained flat in 18. In Semey, the price of bread rose by 0.4%, while the sharpest spike was recorded in only one city — Turkistan.

According to FCB data, bread prices in Turkistan remained practically unchanged throughout 2025 and even decreased: by the end of December, the cost was 1% lower than the previous year. As a result, the price increase effectively "accumulated" and materialized at the start of the new year.

As of January 8, the average price of bread in Turkistan reached 252 tenge per kilogram. While this is 13% higher than the national average, it remains 18% lower than in Almaty, where bread continues to be the most expensive in the country.