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Eastern Caspian
37
Environment and Security
Another factor relevant to the impact of the
energy sector’s development in Kazakhstan
is the overall increase in per capita income
in Atyrau and Mangystau (twice as high as
the average for Kazakhstan). Average wages
rose to the top of the scale in Kazakhstan
(Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan). On
the other hand the rise in salaries can hide
the persistence of substantial wage differ-
ences – sometime exceeding a factor of 18
37
– between the oil-and-gas sector and other
sectors, especially farming. The Gini Coeffi-
cient is an indicator measuring inequalities in
income distribution. For Atyrau and Mangys-
tau in 2002 it showed values 0.43 and 0.36
respectively, compared to Kazakhstan’s aver-
age 0.33 (Pomfret 2006; World Bank 2004).
Although in 2006–7 inequality and pov-
erty levels decreased all over Kazakhstan
compared with 2001–2, they nevertheless
remained high in Atyrau and Mangystau
despite these provinces’ high levels of per
capita GRP. Between 2001 and 2006 the
percentage of the population living below
the subsistence minimum in Mangystau fell
from 60% to 26%, and in Atyrau from 56%
to 24%
38
(Agency of the Republic of Kaza-
khstan on statistics).
The widening gap between urban and rural
areas is also apparent in income and poverty
levels. Although poverty rates in Mangistau
and Atyrau provinces are generally among
the highest nationwide, there is cause for
even greater concern regarding rural poverty.
In Atyrau it has come close to 44% at cer-
tain times, while in Mangystau it culminated
at 85% of the rural population (the highest
level in the country) compared with a nation-
al average of 35% for the rural population
39
.
Despite the importance of oil production in
Mangystau, almost 40% of its total popula-
tion is poor, which is higher than a poverty
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