Kyrgyzstan doubles corn imports as spending rises just 0.4%
Kyrgyzstan imported 2,700 tonnes of corn worth $6.05 million in January-May 2026, nearly twice the volume recorded a year earlier. Spending increased by only 0.4%, while Russia became the largest supplier by volume and Turkey retained the lead by value.
Import volume approaches twice the 2025 level
Kyrgyzstan imported 2,700 tonnes of corn worth $6.05 million between January and May 2026, according to National Statistical Committee data reported by ZOL.ru. The physical volume was nearly double the 1,300 tonnes purchased during the same period of 2025, but the value of imports rose by only 0.4% from $6.03 million.
The difference between volume and spending indicates that the composition of Kyrgyzstan’s purchases changed substantially. Based on the aggregate figures, the average declared value fell from about $4,638 per tonne in January-May 2025 to roughly $2,241 per tonne in the corresponding 2026 period. These calculated averages combine shipments from suppliers with sharply different declared values and should not be read as a single market price.
The data are relevant to grain traders and agricultural buyers because additional tonnage entered the country without a comparable increase in the total import bill. The supplier breakdown shows that low-value bulk deliveries and much higher-value consignments continued to coexist within the same customs category.
Russia leads volume, Turkey leads value
Russia became Kyrgyzstan’s largest supplier by volume, delivering 1,490 tonnes valued at $55,000. ZOL.ru reports that Russian supply increased more than 84-fold. However, the reproduced comparison also describes the previous-year shipment as 17,600 tonnes worth $52,000, a figure that conflicts with both the reported growth rate and Kyrgyzstan’s total imports of 1,300 tonnes in January-May 2025.
Turkey remained the leading supplier by value. Kyrgyzstan bought 479 tonnes of Turkish corn for $2.38 million, compared with 390 tonnes for $1.9 million a year earlier. Turkey therefore accounted for less volume than Russia but generated substantially more trade value, underlining the wide differences between the consignments reported under the corn heading.
Russia and Turkey together supplied 1,969 tonnes, or close to three-quarters of Kyrgyzstan’s total reported import volume. Their positions were nevertheless very different: Russia dominated physical supply, while Turkey captured the largest disclosed expenditure among individual origins.
China and Ukraine retreat as Austria expands
China reduced shipments to Kyrgyzstan almost threefold, from 322 tonnes to 86.5 tonnes. Their value declined from $830,000 to $232,000. Ukraine’s deliveries fell even more sharply, from 31.2 tonnes worth $137,600 to 0.5 tonnes worth $7,000.
Austria moved in the opposite direction. Its shipments increased from 0.1 tonnes valued at $700 to 50.4 tonnes worth $250,000. Kazakhstan, Serbia, Romania, Spain, Italy, Germany and the United States also supplied corn to Kyrgyzstan during January-May 2026, although the source did not provide quantities or values for those origins.
The figures point to a broader reshuffling of Kyrgyzstan’s supplier mix rather than a uniform rise across all origins. Russia added the largest reported volume, Turkey strengthened its value leadership, and Austria expanded from a minimal base, while China and Ukraine lost ground. For exporters, the data show that access to the Kyrgyz market varies strongly by shipment type and declared value; for domestic buyers, the larger overall volume was secured with almost unchanged aggregate spending.
