ASTANA (Realist English). The British analytical centre Legatum Institute has published its annual global prosperity ranking – the Legatum Prosperity Index 2026.
Kazakhstan took 66th place out of 167 countries, once again confirming its status as the most prosperous state in Central Asia. The republic outperformed all its neighbours in the region, as well as Russia, which ranked 103rd.
What the Prosperity Index measures
The Legatum Prosperity Index has been published since 2007. Unlike rankings focused primarily on economic indicators, it assesses a country’s prosperity more broadly – taking into account both material well-being and social factors.
The study covers 167 countries and analyses more than 130 indicators, grouped into three key areas:
- Development (economy, quality of life, healthcare, education, infrastructure);
- Freedom (personal freedoms, social capital, investment climate);
- Society (quality of governance, security, social connections).
In 2026, the index methodology was updated to place greater emphasis on balanced results across all areas, rather than allowing high scores in individual categories to compensate for weaknesses.
Kazakhstan’s position and regional rankings
Kazakhstan took 66th place with a final score of 66.37. The distribution among Central Asian countries is as follows:
| Country | Global Rank |
| Kazakhstan | 66th |
| Kyrgyzstan | 87th |
| Uzbekistan | 94th |
| Tajikistan | 129th |
| Turkmenistan | 150th |
The gap between Kazakhstan and its nearest regional neighbour – Kyrgyzstan – is 21 positions. Russia, for comparison, ranked 103rd, trailing Kazakhstan by 37 places.
Kazakhstan’s strengths
The republic’s strongest performance is in education – 32nd place globally. Another strong indicator is family integrity – 30th place.
By individual categories, Kazakhstan ranks:
- 52nd in “Development”;
- 45th in “Society”;
- 47th in “Integrity of Society”;
- 53rd in quality of life.
Over the past decade, the country has shown the most noticeable progress in healthcare.
At the same time, Kazakhstan’s weakest positions are in personal freedom, social capital and quality of governance.
Dynamics: 17 places up in 15 years
Since 2011, Kazakhstan has climbed 17 positions in the ranking. The country’s best result during its participation in the index remains 63rd place, with its worst being 82nd. The average position over the entire observation period hovers around 72nd.
Legatum Institute analysts specifically highlight the consistency of Kazakhstan’s education and economic quality indicators – these two areas have been stable strengths for the country in recent years.
Global leaders
The top spot in the 2026 global ranking went to Switzerland with a final score of 91.82. It is followed by Norway (91.07), Ireland (90.19), Denmark (89.70) and Finland (89.55). According to the report, Switzerland topped the ranking thanks to consistently high results across all areas without significant weaknesses.
The Legatum Prosperity Index remains one of the authoritative international tools for assessing well-being – its methodology is used by analysts at the World Bank and the OECD. For Kazakhstan, maintaining its leadership in Central Asia and further improving its global ranking remain strategic development priorities, particularly in the areas of personal freedoms and quality of governance, where the country still shows more modest results.
