In Kyrgyzstan, the wage gap between the public and private sectors continues to widen. According to data for January–February 2025, employees of non-budgetary organizations earned an average of 52,314 KGS per month, while public sector workers earned 30,536 KGS. This means that the private sector pays its employees 1.7 times more.

The reason for this imbalance is the more active growth of wages in the non-budgetary sector. While the rate of increase in state institutions was 11%, in the private sector it exceeded 21.3% over the year. This is particularly noticeable against the backdrop of inflation, which is eroding purchasing power.

The largest gap between public and private sector salaries was recorded in the Talas region, where employees of non-budgetary organizations earn an average of 90,705 KGS, while public sector employees earn only 25,300 KGS. This is almost 3.6 times more. In the Issyk-Kul region, the gap is more than 55,700 KGS (82,538 vs. 26,849).

For comparison, in the Osh region, the gap is minimal, with 34,827 soms for non-budgetary employees and 24,443 soms for budgetary employees. That is, the difference is just over 10,000 KGS.

The private sector in Kyrgyzstan is particularly active in sectors such as construction, finance, IT, and services, which have seen the highest wage growth rates. For example, salaries in construction rose by almost 40% over the year, in information technology by 27%, and in the hotel and restaurant business by 26%. The budget sector is slower to respond in this regard, with salaries in education and healthcare rising by only 5–6%.