Living in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's economy leans on energy and the engineering and construction that grow around it, and that's where work for outsiders concentrates. Pay sits in the middle, but living costs run higher than the pay would suggest, so what's left at month's end is modest rather than generous. Hiring is hard without local connections, and English reaches only into the technical corners. It tends to suit someone posted for a specific project more than someone still weighing where to land.

Kazakhstan's diaspora is shrinking — down 16% over the past decade, to 2.8M — an unusual reversal among the world's larger emigrant populations. By far the most live in Russia (1.3M), followed by sizable communities in Germany (896.3K) and Ukraine.