In the report by the analytical company Kepios titled Digital 2026: Kyrgyzstan (with data as of October 2025), key trends in the field of the internet, social media, and other digital services in the country are presented. This report is based on statistics and facts, without authorial comments. Below are the main findings regarding the most popular social platforms, search queries, and the growing interest in YouTube and messaging apps.
Popularity of Social Media
According to the report Digital 2026: Kyrgyzstan, Instagram is the most popular social network in the country. The expected advertising reach of this platform is 3.9 million users, which corresponds to 53.3% of the population of Kyrgyzstan. This means that more than half of all citizens over the age of 13 actively use Instagram (considering that registration for those under 13 is prohibited). At the same time, the audience of Facebook in Kyrgyzstan is significantly smaller – about 938 thousand users, which is approximately 12.8% of the population. Thus, Instagram has more than a fourfold advantage in reach compared to Facebook, confirming its popularity among Kyrgyz citizens.
Thus, social media in the country is characterized by the dominance of Instagram, a moderate level of presence of new and professional networks (such as Threads and LinkedIn), and a decline in the popularity of traditional platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The total number of social media users reached 3.90 million, which is 53.3% of the total population, or 78.7% among people over 18 years old. In 2025, the total number of social media accounts increased by 950 thousand (+32.2%), indicating a continuing influx of new users, primarily on Instagram.
TikTok: Blocked but Has Potential
The Kepios report emphasizes that data on TikTok is not provided due to the official blocking of this platform in Kyrgyzstan. In 2024, access to TikTok was restricted as a result of government decisions, leading to a lack of data on users within the country. Although some users continue to use TikTok via VPN, their activity is not reflected in official statistics.
If TikTok had not been blocked, it could have taken a leading position in reaching the Kyrgyz audience. For example, in Kazakhstan, TikTok has about 16.9 million users over the age of 18 and reaches more than 86% of internet users, ranking first in terms of visits.
The word "weather" ranks first among search queries. Users often search for forecasts like "weather tomorrow" or "weather Bishkek," indicating that the internet has become the primary source of weather reports.
The query "download" is also frequently encountered, likely in conjunction with file or program names, demonstrating the active search by Kyrgyz users for downloading content from the web.
The query "translator" is popular among users. Online translators like Google Translate are actively used for translation between languages. The word "translation" also appears in the top searches, which may indicate interest in text translations and possibly currency exchange.
The query "YouTube" is also common, as many users enter the name of the video platform in searches, using it as a navigator. This underscores the popularity of YouTube.
The messenger WhatsApp also made it to the list of popular queries: the word "ватсап" (local spelling of WhatsApp) entered the top. Additionally, the query "ватсап веб" indicates users' interest in the web version of WhatsApp for use on PCs.
Surprisingly, the word "anime" also made it into the top 10, indicating the growing popularity of Japanese animation among Kyrgyz citizens who are searching for anime videos or information about this genre.
It is particularly noteworthy that ChatGPT is currently the leading representative of AI services in Kyrgyzstan in terms of user reach. Its popularity is explained by the ability to answer questions in various languages, including Russian and Kyrgyz, as well as to assist in text creation, translations, and learning. For many internet users, ChatGPT has become a sort of "second search engine" and assistant.
Messaging Apps: Widely Used but Not Visible in Statistics
Messaging services are widely spread in Kyrgyzstan – almost every internet user communicates through one of the messengers. However, the Digital 2026 report notes an interesting point: there is almost no data on messengers, except for Facebook Messenger, in the top lists for advertising reach. This is because popular messengers like WhatsApp and Telegram do not provide open data on advertising audiences (WhatsApp does not show ads at all, and Telegram has only recently started doing so, with very limited data). Therefore, Kepios only takes into account Messenger, whose audience is about 159 thousand people, which is extremely low compared to millions of social media users and does not reflect the real picture of messenger usage.
In practice, WhatsApp is installed on most smartphones in Kyrgyzstan, and its monthly audience is in the millions. Telegram is also very popular, especially among young people, media, businesses, and government institutions (for disseminating news and announcements). The popularity of these messengers is also confirmed by the fact that queries related to WhatsApp have appeared among the most frequent in Google. However, traditional methods make it difficult to measure their reach, as the lack of advertising dashboards and open statistical data does not allow for accurate figures to be presented in the report.
This figure is 21.5% lower than at the same time last year. According to information received on October 1, 2025, the population of Kyrgyzstan amounted to 7 million 374 thousand people....
Photo from the internet As of December 1, 2025, the official unemployment rate in Kyrgyzstan is 1.4 percent, according to the Ministry of Labor, Social Security, and Migration. As of October 1,...
Recently, issues concerning foreign workers and their stay in Kyrgyzstan have been actively discussed. In response to the growing interest in this topic, the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and...
In Kyrgyzstan, there are currently 815 thousand pensioners registered. This was reported by Bakhtiyar Aliyev, the chairman of the Social Fund, at a meeting of the Jogorku Kenesh on December 25....
At the New Year's morning performance in one of the shopping centers in Bishkek, a little girl performed a nasheed for Santa Claus, which sparked a storm of emotions on social media. This video...
According to the report "Global Trends in Freedom of Expression and the Development of Media 2022–2025", there is a decline in the level of freedom of expression that has no parallels in...
According to the Ministry of Labor of the Kyrgyz Republic, the labor force of the country has reached 2.861 million people. Of these, 2.756 million are employed, while 104.7 thousand are unemployed....
During the session of the People's Kurultai, the President of Kyrgyzstan held an online ceremony to inaugurate a number of industrial and social facilities. Delegates were presented with a video...
The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan, with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), organized a roundtable on December 22 dedicated to the development of digital financial technologies...
As part of the IV People's Kurultai, which took place with the participation of the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev, an online ceremony was held to inaugurate 94 new...
A local resident of Balakchy was detained for distributing extremist materials on social media. This was reported by the press service of the Internal Affairs Department of the Issyk-Kul region....
Photo Adhadhu Sports. Kyrgyzstan national volleyball team The women's volleyball team of Kyrgyzstan participated in an international tournament held in the Maldives. This was reported by the...
As the New Year holidays approach, there is an active spread of fraudulent links on social networks and messengers, disguised as holiday greetings, giveaways, and gifts. This is reported by the press...
Malik Shavaev, the current champion of Kyrgyzstan in freestyle wrestling, spoke about his roots and connection to this country. The 29-year-old athlete from Russia became the national champion,...
The initiative is aimed at the citizens of the country In 2026, new tariffs for domestic air transportation will be established in Kyrgyzstan, which will be lower than market prices. This was...
In Kyrgyzstan, 3 million 600 thousand requests were registered at the public service centers (CSP), of which 527 thousand services were provided in digital format. In particular, the following were...
The IV People's Kurultai has started in Bishkek, with the participation of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sadyr Japarov. The first day of the event took place on December 26....
As the New Year holidays approach, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic has recorded a significant number of fraudulent links, comparable to congratulations and giveaways. These...
Among more than 1 million cars in the country, 80% are older than 15 years Representatives of the Kyrgyz government have proposed a ban on the registration and re-registration of cars that are not...
In the Osh region, the opening of three new production enterprises and 15 social facilities took place. This event was attended online by President Sadyr Japarov, as reported by the presidential...
In an interview with Aynur Samanov, the trade representative of Russia in Kyrgyzstan, key achievements of 2025 were highlighted and plans for 2026 were outlined....
The biometric control system implemented in Moscow airports for tracking migrants will be expanded to other regions of the country. This was reported by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin in his annual...
On December 25, as part of the IV People's Kurultai, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev held an online ceremony to open 94 social and production facilities in...
The Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry of Kyrgyzstan has presented the results of its work over 11 months in the field of irrigation and providing the population with...
The Lenin District Court of St. Petersburg has opened a case regarding an administrative offense against Ekaterina Bivol. According to information provided by the unified press service of the...
According to information provided by the National Statistical Committee, as of October 1, 2025, the population of Kyrgyzstan was 7.374 million people. In the country, the labor force amounted to...
The Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic explained the increase in queues at the Family Medicine Centers (CSM) for obtaining the medical certificate of form 083, which is necessary for...
In the Batken region, the construction of a road has been completed, costing 888.9 million soms. This route connects the villages of Sary-Talaa, Kyzyl-Tash, and Zardaly. The opening of new industrial...
The discussions on the new General Plan for the city's development until 2050 have concluded in Bishkek. This document became the subject of extensive public hearings, which sparked significant...
- In a recent interview, Meder Mashiev, the Minister of Natural Resources, discussed with Tazabek the issues related to the decline in production indicators at Kumtor and in the country as a whole....
False messages and links regarding allegedly conducted surveys on behalf of President Sadyr Japarov, promising monetary payments, are actively spreading on social media and messengers. This...
The head of the government emphasized that in the context of the prevalence of social networks and media, cases of distortion of facts and misinformation are not uncommon. In this regard, the...
As part of the IV People's Kurultai, which took place with the participation of the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev, an online opening of 94 new social and production...
The Ministry of Economy, acting on the instructions of the Cabinet of Ministers, has initiated a proposal to create a mechanism that will allow for checking the presence of catalysts in cars during...
The application will function as a crypto wallet and provide access to decentralized services. Developers claim that users will be able to make P2P payments and interact with decentralized...
The Ministry of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic has announced its key achievements for the year 2025. According to the provided information, the number of children enrolled in preschool education...
Visa Denials for European Human Rights Defenders and EU Commissioner The U.S. State Department has decided not to issue entry visas to five Europeans who participated in the development of the...
Ministers and the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev answered the questions of the deputies. The speakers discussed the socio-economic development of the country, financing of...
Citizens are asked to prepare documents in advance From January 1 to January 12, 2026, the public service centers in Kyrgyzstan will suspend their operations. This was announced by the State...
At the friendly tournament held in Yerevan, the national futsal team of Kyrgyzstan took third place. This was reported by the association of this sport on social media. The first match against the...
The Ministry of Health has announced the start of mandatory vaccination for citizens planning to perform Hajj in Mecca in 2026. This measure is aimed at maintaining sanitary and epidemiological...
Research conducted by scientists from the University of Texas and the University of Massachusetts has shown that regular assistance to others significantly slows down age-related changes in cognitive...
As of December 1, 2025, there is an increase in the activity of citizens contacting the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic. According to the information from...
A new issue of the magazine "Ratings of 500 Companies in Kyrgyzstan" will be released soon! Previously, Tazabek published the rankings of the "TOP-1000 Largest Taxpayers in...
In Bishkek, during the IV People's Kurultai, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev delivered a speech, marking the online opening of 94 new social and production facilities...
Photo from the internet In Stepnogorsk, located in Kazakhstan, the snow compositions set up in the "Fairy Town" became the subject of active discussion on social media. Local residents...
