Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country with a population of 20 million people. Since gaining independence in 1991, the country has made significant progress in economic and social development, graduating into an upper-middle-income country. The share of the population with incomes below the subsistence level has decreased from 34.6% in 1996 to 5.1% in the first half of 2023. In the Human Development Index, Kazakhstan is among countries with very high human development.