Listening to the Kyrgyz Republic survey, conducted by the World Bank since 2021 based on regular household phone surveys, highlights an important paradox of Kyrgyzstan’s economy: macroeconomic indicators are improving steadily and confidently, yet the subjective sense of well-being is growing more slowly and unevenly.
The report covers the period from 2022 through the third quarter of 2025 and makes it possible to compare the «big picture» of the economy with how people perceive their everyday lives.
The survey identifies several key findings.
GDP is growing, poverty is declining: Numbers versus perceptions
According to the survey, GDP per capita increased by about 23 percent between 2021 and 2024, while the national poverty rate declined from 29.8 percent to 25.7 percent — around 264,000 people moved out of poverty.
These macroeconomic shifts created a foundation for improved household financial resilience: by the third quarter of last year, about 90 percent of families were able to afford food and pay utility bills, while the overall financial resilience index rose from 35 percent in early 2022 to 80 percent in 2025.
Inflation trap: Why families stopped saving
However, overall real income growth in 2025 nearly came to a halt. The study records stagnation under the pressure of inflation and a sharp decline in the share of remittances — from 19 percent in 2022 to just 6 percent in the third quarter of 2025.
This hit households’ ability to save: while about 11 percent of families were setting money aside a year earlier, only 1 percent did so in 2025.
This largely explains why people do not always feel economic growth — current expenses are «eating up» everything families might otherwise save.
Price pressure: What Kyrgyzstanis fear most
By the third quarter of last year, food security reached 85 percent — a high figure compared to 2022, when many families skipped meals or faced food shortages.
However, fears of rising prices have intensified again. The inflation perception index returned to positive in 2025, meaning people once again feel price pressure after a period of relative calm in 2023–2024.
The greatest concerns are driven by rising prices for bread, flour, meat, and especially electricity tariffs — by mid-2025, this indicator reached its highest level in three years of observations.
Goodbye migration: Growing optimism and trust in reforms
One of the most striking findings of the survey is that the desire to emigrate among respondents has nearly disappeared.
If at the beginning of 2022 migration intentions were reported by 12 percent of households, by mid-2025 the figure had fallen close to zero.
Reasons include:
- improved assessment of economic conditions (93 percent give a positive assessment);
- growing optimism about reforms (up to 90 percent by the third quarter of last year);
- improved perception of opportunities in the labor market (up to 75 percent positive responses).
What hits the sense of well-being the hardest
The survey results show that the emotional and material well-being of Kyrgyzstanis is shaped by several key factors:
1. Loss of food security
This causes the strongest and longest-lasting decline in life satisfaction — by about 8 percent, with no quick recovery. The effect is persistent: if a household experiences food shortages, negative perceptions remain for a long time.
2. Transition to subjective poverty
When a family begins to classify itself as «poor,» life satisfaction falls by about 5 percent and remains below the initial level for up to two years.
3. Employment status
Starting a job is one of the strongest drivers of increased life satisfaction. One year after employment, the indicator rises by 8–9 percent, and after two years — by nearly 17 percent.
4. Income growth
A 20 percent increase in income raises life satisfaction by about 10 percent; a 40 percent increase — by 13 percent or more. The strongest effect is observed when income grows by 60 percent or more.
Trust in the state — unexpected factor of well-being
One of the study’s notable findings is that rising trust in the government is directly linked to higher life satisfaction.
The share of respondents who consider anti-corruption measures effective increased from 73 percent in early 2022 to 92 percent in the third quarter of 2025.
Perceptions of an «open dialogue between the authorities and the public» rose from 61 percent to 81 percent over the same period.
This effect is persistent, indicating that communication and transparency matter to people almost as much as income and employment.
What all this means
The survey results reveal a dual reality:
- Kyrgyzstan’s economy is growing dynamically, incomes are rising, and poverty is declining;
- however, the sense of financial vulnerability remains high, especially amid stagnating real incomes and growing anxiety over prices.
The main risks for households are job loss, rising prices, and fears of a decline in living standards. The key factors of resilience are employment, financial security, stable incomes, and trust in the reforms being implemented.
