The MCI: the figure behind most prices in Kazakhstan

The Monthly Calculation Index (MCI) for 2026 is 4,325 tenge.

It is the base unit to which a great many payments in Kazakhstan are pegged: fines, state fees, social payments and — the part that concerns us — tariffs for visiting protected natural areas.

Why this matters to a traveller

A national park entrance tariff is written into the regulation not in tenge but in MCI units. A pedestrian pays 0.2 MCI, a car 0.7 MCI.

The index is revised every year by the budget law. That means the tenge amount changes automatically, every January, without any new order being issued.

How to use this

The formula is simply coefficient × current index.

This makes you independent of other people’s articles. Any publication quoting an entrance price without stating the year is probably wrong — not because the author lied, but because the figure was correct when it was written.

Checking someone else’s number is just as easy: divide it by the current index. If you get 0.2 or 0.6, it is the park service tariff. If you get 0.1, it is the separate protected-area usage charge under the Tax Code. If you get nothing meaningful, it is probably the price of a commercial tour.

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