The bulk of the shadow economy’s revenue goes toward purchases made by ordinary Kyrgyz citizens

In Kyrgyzstan, the size of the shadow economy continues to grow, although its share of GDP is gradually declining. In 2024, the shadow sector reached 261.6 billion KGS—accounting for 16.5% of the country’s total GDP.

Experts note that the bulk of the shadow economy’s revenue is spent on household consumption. In other words, most of this money goes toward the population’s purchases of goods and services. In figures, this looks like this: consumption expenditures related to the informal economy in 2024 amounted to 1 trillion 375.3 billion KGS, or nearly 87% of all household expenditures. Meanwhile, informal sales of goods reached 258.4 billion KGS.

Investments in fixed capital are also part of the shadow economy, but their share is relatively smaller. In 2024, they amounted to 274.3 billion KGS, of which 3.2 billion represented the hidden value of construction.

Simply put, most of the money circulating in the shadow economy actually goes toward people’s daily needs, rather than toward construction or business. At the same time, although the absolute figures are growing, the share of the shadow economy in GDP is gradually declining: from 22.9% in 2000 to 16.5% in 2024.