Kazakhstan, spanning as the ninth largest country globally, is home to 18 million people and stands as the largest economy in Central Asia, largely attributed to its extensive natural resources.

Despite its economy's strong reliance on the extractive industry, Kazakhstan is steering towards a greener and more sustainable economic model. At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021, Kazakhstan announced its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

The Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA), which entered into force on 1 March 2020, governs trade and economic relations between the European Union and Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the first Central Asian partner to have concluded an EPCA with the EU.

The EU is Kazakhstan’s biggest overall trading partner, as the destination for 37% of total Kazakh exports and representing 27.9% of its total trade in 2023. The EU is also the biggest foreign investor in Kazakhstan, providing €54.8 billion of total foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in 2022: a 5.5% increase compared to 2021.

Kazakhstan is an important partner of the EU in the Central Asian region. To further develop the overall trade, economic and cultural relations, the EU wants to strengthen its aviation relations with Kazakhstan.

The Country Knowledge Community is led by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. Access is restricted.

The European Union and Kazakhstan have been partners since the country's independence in 1991. In December 2015, the European Union and Kazakhstan signed an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA). This new Agreement, the first of its kind with a Central Asian partner, brought relations between the EU and Kazakhstan to a new level and represented an important milestone in more than 25 years of EU-Kazakhstan relations.

European Union Delegations are an integral part of the EU External Action Service (EEAS) and have constituted the official diplomatic representation of the EU to countries outside the EU since the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.