Forecasters reveal air quality data for Kazakhstan’s cities

Tengrinews.kz – It has become known which settlements in Kazakhstan recorded the most polluted air this past May. The data was provided to us by Kazhydromet.

In May 2026, out of 69 settlements in Kazakhstan, 33 were classified as having a low level of atmospheric air pollution, 22 as having an increased level, 12 as having a high level, and 2 as having a very high level of pollution.

Details

The city of Karaganda and the village of Shubarshi were classified as having a very high level of atmospheric air pollution.

The cities of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Almaty, Petropavlovsk, Zhezkazgan, Temirtau, Abay, Satpayev, Turkestan, Talgar, Astana and Semey, as well as the village of Ganyushkino in Kurmangazy district, were classified as having a high level of pollution.

The cities of Aktobe, Atyrau, Shymkent, Aktau, Kostanay, Pavlodar, Ridder, Taldykorgan, Zharkent, Balkhash, Rudny, Arkalyk, Zhitikara, Aralsk, Shu, Ayagoz, Kandyagash and Khromtau, the village of Zhanbay, as well as the settlements of Inderborsky, Kenkiyak and Kyzylsay, were classified as having an increased level of pollution.

The cities of Kokshetau, Uralsk, Taraz, Kyzylorda, Ekibastuz, Atbasar, Zhanaozen, Aksu, Aksay, Zhanatas, Karatau, Kentau, Lisakovsk, Saran, Stepnogorsk, Shemonaikha, Shchuchinsk, Kulsary and Altai, the settlements of Aiteke Bi, Aksu, Auezovo, Bestobe, Burabay, Glubokoye, Beineu, Sastobe, Toretam and Korday, as well as the villages of Akay, Burlin, Makat and Shieli, were classified as having a low level of atmospheric air pollution.

Air quality monitoring in Kazakhstan

In May, monitoring was carried out in 69 settlements of Kazakhstan at 174 observation stations.

Of these, 45 stations conducted observations with manual sampling. They were located in the cities of Astana, Aktobe, Almaty, Atyrau, Taraz, Karaganda, Balkhash, Zhezkazgan, Temirtau, Kostanay, Kyzylorda, Aktau, Pavlodar, Ekibastuz, Petropavlovsk and Shymkent, as well as in the settlement of Glubokoye.

Another 129 automatic observation stations operated in Astana, Almaty, Kokshetau, Atbasar, Stepnogorsk, Shchuchinsk, Talgar, Taldykorgan, Zharkent, Aktobe, Kandyagash, Khromtau, Atyrau, Kulsary, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Altai, Ayagoz, Ridder, Semey, Shemonaikha, Taraz, Zhanatas, Karatau, Shu, Uralsk, Aksay, Karaganda, Abay, Balkhash, Zhezkazgan, Saran, Satpayev, Temirtau, Kostanay, Arkalyk, Lisakovsk, Zhitikara, Rudny, Kyzylorda, Aralsk, Aktau, Zhanaozen, Pavlodar, Aksu, Ekibastuz, Petropavlovsk, Shymkent, Kentau and Turkestan, as well as in the settlements of Burabay, Aksu, Bestobe, Shubarshi, Inderborsky, Makat, Auezov, Glubokoye, Karabalyk, Aiteke Bi, Toretam and Sastobe, and in the villages of Kenkiyak, Zhanbay, Ganyushkino, Burlin, Akay, Shieli, Beineu and Kyzylsay.

At stationary stations and using mobile laboratories, specialists measured the concentration of major pollutants, including PM2.5 and PM10, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, hydrogen sulfide and heavy metals.

For comparison, in March, four settlements were classified as having a very high level of atmospheric air pollution: Karaganda, Zhezkazgan, Satpayev and Abay. In April, their number decreased to two: Karaganda and Petropavlovsk.

By the end of May, two settlements also remained in this category, but Shubarshi replaced Petropavlovsk on the list.