Editing Central Asia (section)

== Economy ==
[[File:GDP growth trends in Central Asia, 2000−2013.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|GDP growth trends in Central Asia, 2000–2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), Figure 14.1]]
[[File:GDP in Central Asia by economic sector, 2005 and 2013.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|GDP in Central Asia by economic sector, 2005 and 2013. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030, Figure 14.2]]
[[File:GDP per capita development in Central Asia.svg|thumb|GDP per capita development in Central Asia, since 1973]]
Since gaining independence in the early 1990s, the Central Asian republics have gradually been moving from a state-controlled economy to a market economy. However, reform has been deliberately gradual and selective, as governments strive to limit the social cost and ameliorate living standards. All five countries are implementing structural reforms to improve competitiveness. Kazakhstan is the only CIS country to be included in the 2020<ref name="imbwc2020">{{cite web|title=IMB World Competitiveness Rankings 2020|url=https://www.imd.org/contentassets/6333be1d9a884a90ba7e6f3103ed0bea/wcy2020_overall_competitiveness_rankings_2020.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621140124/https://www.imd.org/contentassets/6333be1d9a884a90ba7e6f3103ed0bea/wcy2020_overall_competitiveness_rankings_2020.pdf|archive-date=21 June 2020|url-status=live|website=imb.org}}</ref> and 2019<ref name="iwbwc2019">{{cite web|title=2019 World Competitiveness Ranking|url=https://www.imd.org/contentassets/6b85960f0d1b42a0a07ba59c49e828fb/one-year-change-vertical.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530135916/https://www.imd.org/contentassets/6b85960f0d1b42a0a07ba59c49e828fb/one-year-change-vertical.pdf|archive-date=30 May 2019|url-status=live|website=imd.org}}</ref> IWB World Competitiveness rankings. In particular, they have been modernizing the industrial sector and fostering the development of service industries through business-friendly fiscal policies and other measures, to reduce the share of agriculture in GDP. Between 2005 and 2013, the share of agriculture dropped in all but Tajikistan, where it increased while industry decreased. The fastest growth in industry was observed in Turkmenistan, whereas the services sector progressed most in the other four countries.<ref name=":13" />

Public policies pursued by Central Asian governments focus on buffering the political and economic spheres from external shocks. This includes maintaining a trade balance, minimizing public debt and accumulating national reserves. They cannot totally insulate themselves from negative exterior forces, however, such as the persistently weak recovery of global industrial production and international trade since 2008. Notwithstanding this, they have emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. Growth faltered only briefly in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and not at all in Uzbekistan, where the economy grew by more than 7% per year on average between 2008 and 2013. Turkmenistan achieved unusually high 14.7% growth in 2011. Kyrgyzstan's performance has been more erratic but this phenomenon was visible well before 2008.<ref name=":13" />

The republics which have fared best benefitted from the commodities boom during the first decade of the 2000s. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have abundant oil and natural gas reserves and Uzbekistan's own reserves make it more or less self-sufficient. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan all have gold reserves and Kazakhstan has the world's largest uranium reserves. Fluctuating global demand for cotton, aluminium and other metals (except gold) in recent years has hit Tajikistan hardest, since aluminium and raw cotton are its chief exports − the Tajik Aluminium Company is the country's primary industrial asset. In January 2014, the Minister of Agriculture announced the government's intention to reduce the acreage of land cultivated by cotton to make way for other crops. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are major cotton exporters themselves, ranking fifth and ninth respectively worldwide for volume in 2014.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book|title=Central Asia. In: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030|last=Mukhitdinova|first=Nasiba|publisher=UNESCO|year=2015|isbn=978-92-3-100129-1|location=Paris|pages=365–387}}</ref>

Although both exports and imports have grown significantly over the past decade, Central Asian republics countries remain vulnerable to economic shocks, owing to their reliance on exports of raw materials, a restricted circle of trading partners and a negligible manufacturing capacity. Kyrgyzstan has the added disadvantage of being considered resource poor, although it does have ample water. Most of its electricity is generated by hydropower.<ref name=":13" />

The Kyrgyz economy was shaken by a series of shocks between 2010 and 2012. In April 2010, President [[Kurmanbek Bakiyev]] was deposed by a popular uprising, with former minister of foreign affairs [[Roza Otunbayeva]] assuring the interim presidency until the election of [[Almazbek Atambayev]] in November 2011. [[Food prices]] rose two years in a row and, in 2012, production at the major Kumtor gold mine fell by 60% after the site was perturbed by geological movements. According to the World Bank, 33.7% of the population was living in absolute poverty{{clarify|date=January 2020}}<!-- what's the threshold?--> in 2010 and 36.8% a year later.<ref name=":13" />

Despite high rates of economic growth in recent years, GDP per capita in Central Asia was higher than the average for developing countries only in Kazakhstan in 2013 (PPP$23,206) and Turkmenistan (PPP$14 201). It dropped to PPP$5,167 for Uzbekistan, home to 45% of the region's population, and was even lower for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.<ref name=":13" />

Kazakhstan leads the Central Asian region in terms of foreign direct investments. The Kazakh economy accounts for more than 70% of all the investment attracted in Central Asia.<ref>{{cite web|title=70% of investments into Central Asia are drawn to Kazakhstan|url=http://kazakh-tv.kz/en/view/business/page_198413_70-of-investments-into-central-asia-are-drawn-to-kazakhstan|website=kazakh-tv.kz|access-date=3 October 2018|archive-date=3 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003153515/http://kazakh-tv.kz/en/view/business/page_198413_70-of-investments-into-central-asia-are-drawn-to-kazakhstan|url-status=live}}</ref>

In terms of the economic influence of big powers, China is viewed as one of the key economic players in Central Asia, especially after Beijing launched its grand development strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329310641|title=China's Belt and Road Initiative through the Lens of Central Asia|last1=Vakulchuk|first1=Roman|last2=Overland|first2=Indra|publisher=Routledge|year=2019|isbn=978-1-138-60749-1|editor-last=M. Cheung|editor-first=Fanny|location=London.|pages=115–133|editor2-last=Hong|editor2-first=Ying-yi|access-date=25 April 2019|archive-date=24 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024180554/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329310641_China%27s_Belt_and_Road_Initiative_through_the_lens_of_Central_Asia|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Central Asian countries attracted $378.2{{nbs}}billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) between 2007 and 2019. Kazakhstan accounted for 77.7% of the total FDI directed to the region. Kazakhstan is also the largest country in Central Asia accounting for more than 60 percent of the region's gross domestic product (GDP).<ref name="CAFDI">{{cite web|title=FDI to Central Asia Reached 378.2{{nbs}}billion Over Past 13 years|url=https://astanatimes.com/2020/12/fdi-to-central-asia-reached-378-2-billion-over-past-13-years/|website=The Astana Times|date=9 December 2020|access-date=10 December 2020|archive-date=11 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211080521/https://astanatimes.com/2020/12/fdi-to-central-asia-reached-378-2-billion-over-past-13-years/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Central Asian nations fared better economically throughout the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Many variables are likely to have been at play, but disparities in economic structure, the intensity of the pandemic, and accompanying containment efforts may all be linked to part of the variety in nations' experiences.<ref name=":50">{{Cite book |url=https://www.eib.org/en/publications/business-resilience-in-the-pandemic-and-beyond|title=Business resilience in the pandemic and beyond: Adaptation, innovation, financing and climate action from Eastern Europe to Central Asia|date=18 May 2022|publisher=European Investment Bank|isbn=978-92-861-5086-9|language=EN|access-date=20 July 2022|archive-date=3 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703145318/https://www01.eib.org/en/publications/business-resilience-in-the-pandemic-and-beyond|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Education in the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Findings from PISA 2018|url=https://www.unicef.org/eca/reports/education-western-balkans-eastern-europe-and-central-asia-findings-pisa-2018|access-date=19 July 2022|website=UNICEF |date=18 May 2022 |language=en|archive-date=19 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719123339/https://www.unicef.org/eca/reports/education-western-balkans-eastern-europe-and-central-asia-findings-pisa-2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Central Asian countries are, however, predicted to be hit the worst in the future. Only 4% of permanently closed businesses anticipate to return in the future, with huge differences across sectors, ranging from 3% in lodging and food services to 27% in retail commerce.<ref name=":50"/><ref name=":52">{{Cite web|title=Impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry|url=https://www2.deloitte.com/nl/nl/pages/consumer/articles/impact-of-covid-19-on-the-hospitality-industry.html|access-date=19 July 2022|website=Deloitte Netherlands|language=nl|archive-date=19 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719123331/https://www2.deloitte.com/nl/nl/pages/consumer/articles/impact-of-covid-19-on-the-hospitality-industry.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022, experts assessed that global climate change is likely to pose multiple economic risks to Central Asia and may possibly result in many billions of losses unless proper adaptation measures are developed to counter growing temperatures across the region.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite news|last=Vakulchuk|first=Roman|date=28 July 2022|title=Climate Change in Central Asia: Are we Beyond the Point of no Return?|work=Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting (CABAR)|url=https://cabar.asia/en/climate-change-in-central-asia-are-we-beyond-the-point-of-no-return|access-date=1 August 2022|archive-date=1 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801132933/https://cabar.asia/en/climate-change-in-central-asia-are-we-beyond-the-point-of-no-return|url-status=live}}</ref>