Ministry of Employment: Unemployment Rate in Uzbekistan Falls Below 5%

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The unemployment rate in Uzbekistan has once again dropped below 5%, the press service of the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction reported.

According to the results of the third quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate stood at 4.9%, down by 0.8 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024.

With a population of 37.8 million, the country’s labor force reached 20.35 million, an increase of 1.9% year-on-year. The economically active population totaled 15.57 million people, of whom 14.81 million were employed — a 4.1% increase.

Thus, the number of unemployed is estimated at about 760,000, or roughly 4.9% of the economically active population.

The ministry noted that unemployment last fell below 5% in 2013 (also 4.9%). Between 2010 and 2017, the rate remained in the range of 5–6%, after which it began to rise, peaking at 10.5% in 2020 during the pandemic.

In subsequent years, unemployment has steadily declined: 9.6% in 2021, 8.9% in 2022, 6.8% in 2023, and 5.5% in 2024.