Kazakhstan – safest CIS country to live in

According to World Bank’s estimates, in 2019 the world economy slowed down to 2.4% (in 2018 - 3%). The main reasons were trade wars between countries, as well as geopolitical situation in the world.

At the same time, foreign policy tensions greatly affected the investment activity of countries. It is worth noting that in 2019 the decline in global FDI inflows continued. According to the OECD, global foreign direct investment flows in the first half of 2019 decreased by 20%, to $ 572 billion.

Peaceful situation in a state and relations with other countries play an important role in economy’s development and country as a whole. According to the Global Peace Index, the safest countries to live in are Iceland, New Zealand, Portugal, Austria and Denmark. The top ten also include Canada, Singapore, Slovenia, Japan and the Czech Republic. In general, the rating includes 163 countries.

The Index takes into account internal factors - the level of violence in country and crime, and external - country's international relations, military spending and other parameters. In general, the level of security of living is estimated by 23 indicators.

The most dangerous countries for living are Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and Iraq. It is worth noting that Russia is among the ten most dangerous countries.

Kazakhstan was included in the list of countries with a high level of security and took 64th place in this rating.

At the same time, Kazakhstan took first place among 12 countries marked in the study as “Russia and Eurasia”. In fact, this division has no relation to a much broader concept of Eurasia: the study deals with 12 states that belong to or previously belonged to the CIS in the status of both Commonwealth countries and associate members.

Such an assessment, among many other factors, makes the country attractive to investors and increases competitiveness in the region. Despite a decline in global FDI inflows and a slowdown in global economic growth, Kazakhstan has continued its upward trend in the country's investment attractiveness. According to preliminary data, the gross inflow of FDI into the country in 2019 amounted to about 25 billion US dollars (in 2018 - 24.3 billion US dollars). It was investment activity in Kazakhstan that had a fundamental role in accelerating GDP growth (4.5% in 2019).

Among the countries of the region, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan also entered the top three; in the global ranking, they took 68th and 95th places, respectively.