New Opportunities on the Silk Road: Exploring Kazakhstan's Elevator Market

As one of Central Asia's rapidly developing economies, Kazakhstan is experiencing continuous growth in its elevator market. Urbanization, increasing new residential construction, development of commercial complexes, and the replacement of aging elevators have created abundant market opportunities for elevator companies. For these enterprises, this is not merely a low-price competition market, but rather an expanding market offering opportunities in new installations, modernization, and localized services.

I. Overview of Kazakhstan’s Elevator Market: Parallel Growth in New Installations and Modernization

According to the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan, the country's annual demand for elevators is approximately 7,000 units—excluding those requiring replacement due to end-of-life conditions. Kazakhstan imports over 5,000 elevators annually, indicating a high level of import dependency.

Regionally, elevator demand is concentrated in major cities such as Almaty and Astana. These urban centers feature dense populations, active commercial activity, and intensive real estate development, making them the most dynamic areas for elevator procurement.

In terms of market structure, new installations and modernization are the two main drivers, particularly in older residential buildings, public facilities, and infrastructure where there is significant demand for elevator upgrades.

Regarding supply structure, Kazakhstan has limited domestic elevator manufacturing capacity, so the market remains dominated by foreign and Chinese brands. Chinese suppliers have gained easier access through consistent product quality, flexible solution configurations, and reliable after-sales support. Additionally, a mature logistics network has been established via land routes connecting China and Kazakhstan.

Nidec products are not new to Kazakhstan; our traction machines have already been installed in numerous key projects across Almaty and Astana. Our after-sales service team has also made multiple visits to provide comprehensive support and maintenance training for local elevator distributors. To gain deeper insights into the Kazakhstani market, Nidec actively participated in the 2026 Kazakhstan Elevator Exhibition and conducted a week-long market research initiative.

(Nidec team attends exhibition and visits local customers)  

II. Market Demand Analysis: Opportunities in Residential, Commercial, and Retrofit Projects  

Kazakhstan is currently advancing infrastructure development alongside housing construction, creating clear growth opportunities for the elevator industry. According to publicly available data, Kazakhstan's construction sector is projected to grow by 15.1% in 2026. At the same time, the country is increasing investments in transportation and utility infrastructure, with energy and municipal modernization projects expected to reach approximately 15.1 trillion tenge in investment between 2025 and 2029. Against the backdrop of ongoing residential development, transportation hubs, energy infrastructure, and urban renewal, elevators—as a key component of high-rise residential buildings, public facilities, rail transit systems, and integrated development projects—still hold significant potential for market expansion.

(Astana, the new capital under construction and development)  

Kazakhstan's current project demands can generally be categorized into three types: residential buildings, commercial public facilities, and elevator modernization of existing buildings.  

The residential market in Kazakhstan primarily consists of mid- to low-rise buildings, with typical floor heights ranging from 9 to 10 stories. As a result, elevator configurations emphasize practicality, cost-effectiveness, and reliability. Based on market demand, elevators with a 1,000 kg load capacity and a speed of 1.0 m/s are most common and better align with local residents' usage habits and project specification standards.

(Astana local residential application)  

For this application scenario, our WJC model block brake fully meets the requirements. This model is suitable not only for new elevator installations but also for retrofit projects of existing elevators, effectively addressing the residential market's demands for installation flexibility, operational stability, and overall cost control. Compared to geared solutions, the WJC model offers advantages in space utilization and energy efficiency, along with a higher cost-performance ratio, providing customers with a more economical and efficient elevator配套 solution.

In Kazakhstan's commercial building sector, high-traffic venues such as airports, shopping malls, and exhibition centers demand high levels of elevator system stability, operational efficiency, and brand recognition, which has long led the market to be dominated by international brands like KONE, OTIS, Schindler, and TKE.

(Taking Almaty Airport as an example, TK Elevator previously installed 17 elevators, 12 escalators, and 2 moving walkways there, highlighting the clear demand in local large-scale public buildings for high-end elevator systems.)  

Meanwhile, with the development of Kazakhstan's commercial infrastructure and exhibition economy, an increasing number of projects are focusing on solutions that offer cost-effectiveness, efficient delivery, and strong local adaptability—creating new opportunities for the Nidec brand. Our products have already been deployed at the Astana International Exhibition Center, a project that not only demonstrates our capability to meet requirements in commercial public buildings but also indicates that Nidec's elevator-related products are gradually gaining recognition in the local market.

(Nidec Products Application at Astana International Exhibition Center)  

Industry data shows that Kazakhstan currently has over 82,000 elevators in operation nationwide, with approximately 32% of them operating for more than 15 years. The demand for upgrading aging equipment is steadily increasing. As residential buildings, office towers, and public facilities enter their equipment renewal cycles, the retrofit market for old elevators is shifting from fragmented to sustained demand—particularly in areas such as safety, reliability, and energy efficiency. To meet this need, Nidec has introduced the ultra-slim WE series drive unit specifically for KONE elevator modernization projects. With consistent installation dimensions, it enables seamless replacement and easy retrofitting. Featuring more reliable bearing selection and a design life exceeding 20 years, the product effectively resolves common issues such as bearing noise.

Ⅲ. Exhibition Insights: Balancing Product Showcase and Market Understanding  

To gain deeper insights into market demand, industrial structure, and competitive landscape, we actively participated in LIFT EXPO KAZAKHSTAN, a representative local industry exhibition. Covering an area of approximately 10,000 square meters, the event featured leading enterprises from the CIS region such as MOGILEVLIFTMASH, joint exhibitors comprising Chinese and Kazakhstani companies, as well as numerous Chinese elevator manufacturers and component suppliers showcasing their products.

(LIFT EXPO KAZAKHSTAN 2026)  

At this exhibition, we highlighted elevator machine room solutions tailored for multi-story residential and commercial complexes in Kazakhstan, attracting significant attention from elevator manufacturers. The WJC-E series is designed for machine room-equipped buildings, offering smooth braking, low noise, easy maintenance, and high durability to meet diverse operational demands. The WR-D series, designed for machine room-less applications, features a compact structure, energy efficiency, stable operation, and suitability for space-constrained environments.

(Nidec's WJC-E & WR-D units on display at this exhibition)  

For us, participating in such exhibitions is not only about showcasing products, but also about gaining deeper insights into the actual needs of the local market through on-site interactions, observing product strategies and technological approaches of different companies, assessing the competitive landscape, and exploring more suitable collaboration models for local customers. Exhibitions serve as a vital gateway to entering the Kazakhstan market and represent the first step toward building trust with local clients.

(Nidec Elevator Team at the Exhibition)

IV. Exploring New Opportunities in Kazakhstan!

Through in-depth market research on Kazakhstan's elevator industry and insights gained from participation in LIFT EXPO KAZAKHSTAN, we not only showcased our technological capabilities—including two mainstream drive units—but also gained a clear understanding of the diverse demands across residential, commercial public buildings, and existing elevator modernization markets. Data analysis reveals that new installations and modernization projects are developing in parallel, with growing demand for upgrading aging elevators. Commercial building projects, in particular, place high emphasis on reliability, operational efficiency, and local adaptability. Moving forward, we will continue leveraging innovative technology, flexible solutions, and reliable service to deliver customized elevator solutions tailored to different building types and project requirements. Our goal is to support both new installations and retrofitting initiatives, enabling efficient and sustainable localized operations, and further strengthening Nidec’s brand presence and recognition in Kazakhstan.