About
The ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Study (LiK Study) is a research-based, open access, multi-topic longitudinal survey of households and individuals in Kyrgyzstan. The LiK Study was started in 2009 and it is now the longest running panel study in Central Asia. The survey was first conducted in 2010 and it has been repeated six times in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2025.
It tracks the same 3,000 households and 8,000 individuals over time in all seven Kyrgyz regions (oblasts) and the two cities of Bishkek and Osh. The sample of households, drawn originally from the 2009 national census, is representative nationally and at the rural/urban and North/South regional levels.
All members of the panel households are tracked in each wave, even if they have “split off” and formed new families. In this case, all members of the new households are surveyed, not only the person who split off from the old household. Likewise, new household members (e.g., babies or spouses) are surveyed and tracked as well.
The LiK Study contains separate questionnaires at the community, household, farm and individual levels. In the spirit of the Living Standard Measurement Surveys (LSMS), LiK covers a broad range of topics such as household demographics, health, education, assets, expenditure, migration, employment, agricultural markets, shocks, social networks and subjective wellbeing. Each of the questionnaires at the various levels consists of several modules, with core modules being asked in every wave. In 2016, we added an agricultural questionnaire to collect detailed information on farming. In 2019, we added a youth questionnaire to interview household members aged 14-17. Some of these topics are addressed in each wave while other topics are only addressed in selected waves.
History of the LiK Study
The LiK Study was established by Professor Tilman Brück as a project funded by the German Volkswagen Foundation from 2010 till 2012. The project included several institutions in Central Asia and Europe with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) as the consortium leader.
In the period 2013-2015, Wave 4 was funded by DFID and IZA as a part of the Growth and Labour Market-Low Income Country (GLM-LIC) Programme. The consortium included the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) as the lead institution, the University of Central Asia (UCA) as the main Kyrgyz partner, and several academic and research institutions from Asia, Europe, and North America. Since then, the study has been hosted by the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) for Waves 5 and 6 and has received funding from UN-FAO, IFPRI and, internally, from IGZ and UCA. The 7th wave was managed by ISDC – International Security and Development Center and UCA, and funded by the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank.
The first five waves of the LiK survey were collected by the company Sotseconik; the sixth and seventh waves were collected by the survey company SIAR Consult. Both companies are long-established and reputable companies providing services in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries.
Data Access
The Life in Kyrgyzstan Study data is openly available: it can be used by any interested party for non-for-profit research, policy analysis and teaching purposes. The survey questionnaires and interviewer manuals can be downloaded here or on the project web site.
The LiK Study data for waves 1-6 (2010-2013, 2016, 2019) are available for research and teaching purposes from the IZA’s International Data Service Center (IDSC). The LiK data access link is idsc.iza.org/lik. This data depository platform contains the data, questionnaires, and the list of publications. The data are made available after registration of the users and signing a data use contract.
Annual Life in Kyrgyzstan Conference
Starting 2015, the LiK Study is complemented by an academic conference that takes place around October each year in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The LiK conference includes plenary talks and topical sessions on variety of topics with a significant part of the research conducted using the LiK data. The conference brings together national and international experts from academic and research institutions, development agencies, government and the public sector, and non-governmental organizations to exchange knowledge and experiences on recent socio-economic developments in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, and to promote evidence-based policy making.
Contact the Life in Kyrgyzstan Study team
You can reach us by email lifeinkyrgyzstan[at]gmail.com. Or follow the LiK Study on Twitter via @LiK_Study.