Astana continues to lead among financial centres in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region 

According to the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI37), released on March 20, 2025, Astana has retained its position as the leading financial centre in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Astana continues to outperform financial centres such as Tallinn, Cyprus, Riga, Almaty, Warsaw, Prague, Istanbul, and others, maintaining its regional leadership for the past two years. In the overall ranking, Astana secured 64th place among 119 global financial centres. 

The GFCI has been publishing two reports annually, tracking the progress of the world’s leading financial centres. The GFCI rating serves as a global benchmark for assessing financial centres and is developed in partnership with the China Development Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen and Z/Yen Partners in London. It provides a comprehensive evaluation of financial centres, considering diverse criteria such as the business environment, financial sector, infrastructure, human capital and city reputation. 

The 37th edition of the GFCI ranking assessed a total of 133 financial centres, with 119 included in the main index. The ranking relies on 140 macroeconomic indicators and over 31 000 assesments provided by over 4 900 respondents of the GFCI online survey. Macro indicators are provided by prominent international organisations such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN) and others. 

It is noteworthy that Astana first entered the GFCI ranking in March 2018. Its inclusion in this ranking was the result of the launch of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which acts as a financial hub for investors and businesses, providing an ecosystem for the development of companies both in Central Asia and beyond.  

Reference: 

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction with a favourable legal and regulatory environment and a developed infrastructure for starting and doing business, attracting investment, creating jobs and developing Kazakhstan’s economy.www.aifc.kz