ASTANA — Kazakhstan rose 17 places to rank 53rd in the May 2026 update of the Global Investment Risk and Resilience Index, marking one of the country’s strongest recent improvements in assessments of its ability to withstand economic and geopolitical shocks.

The May 2026 edition of the index assesses countries by combining long-term resilience indicators with current market risk data. Countries ranked higher are generally considered less risky and better able to withstand shocks. Changes in position reflect how countries compare with one another, rather than an absolute rise or fall in risk.

The updated ranking was released by Henley & Partners in cooperation with AlphaGeo and incorporates Country Risk Premium (CRP) data as of April 1.

Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan’s neighbor, ranked 81st, while the Kyrgyz Republic ranked 96th. Tajikistan got the 97th spot. 

Switzerland, Denmark and Norway are leaders in the edition. 

“In the span of three years, a pandemic, two major wars, a fragmenting trade system, and an energy shock emanating from the Middle East have forced every investor, government, and globally mobile family to ask the same question: where is safe, right now? And more importantly — will it still be safe a year from now?” writes Parag Khanna, founder and chief executive officer at AlphaGeo.

He identified three things that the latest update reveals. 

“First, structural resilience and market-priced risk do not always point the same way — and that gap is the most interesting thing on the map. It is where opportunity and mispricing live,” he writes. 

The traditional view that developed markets are safe and emerging markets are risky no longer holds. Resilience now varies widely from country to country and can shift quickly as investors respond to changing conditions.

“Third, and most important for globally mobile families: no single jurisdiction offers complete protection anymore. The rational response is not to search for one perfect country. It is to build a portfolio of jurisdictional access — residence rights, citizenship options, asset location, and mobility pathways — diversified across structurally resilient economies,” he explained. 

According to the latest World Investment Report released by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Kazakhstan accounted for nearly 66% of Central Asia’s total, solidifying its position as the region’s largest destination for foreign investment. The nation’s FDI stock, which refers to the accumulated value of FDI held in a country, stood at $156.4 billion as of 2025.

Kazakhstan’s improved position in the May 2026 update also reflects a broader shift in how investors assess emerging markets. For decades, lower labor and production costs were often enough to attract factories and integrate developing countries into global supply chains. That model is now weakening as capital increasingly targets digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and other complex industries.

This places greater weight on the country’s domestic capacity. Kazakhstan has been positioning itself for that shift by investing in transport corridors, energy infrastructure, digital connectivity and advanced manufacturing, accompanied by comprehensive support to investors. 

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