Museum Visits in Uzbekistan Up 14.5% in 2025

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The National Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics released a press release on 30 July detailing key culture and arts indicators in the country for 2025. The data covers the activities of museums, theaters, concert organizations, the circus, zoos, botanical gardens, cultural and recreational parks, and information-library institutions.

Museums

The number of museums in Uzbekistan in 2025 stood at 137 units (including branches), representing a decrease of 1 unit, or 0.7%, compared with 2024. However, compared with 2021, the total number of museums has increased by 10 units.

The number of museum visits reached 5,474.9 thousand, an increase of 692.3 thousand, or 14.5%. Per 10,000 population, the number of visits reached 1,445 units, up 158 units, or 12.3%, from the previous year.

The highest number of museums was recorded in the city of Tashkent (35 units), followed by the Bukhara and Khorezm regions (18 units each).

The lowest numbers were noted in the Namangan, Surkhandarya, and Syrdarya regions (2 units each). In terms of total visits, the city of Tashkent led with 1,856.6 thousand, followed by the Samarkand (1,183.1 thousand) and Bukhara (879.5 thousand) regions. Per 10,000 population, the highest attendance was registered in Tashkent City (5,903 units), Bukhara Region (4,204), and Khorezm Region (2,782).

Theaters

Uzbekistan operates 41 state theaters, which hosted 11.9 thousand performances in 2025. Total visits reached 4,351.0 thousand, or 1,148 per 10,000 population.

The largest concentration of theaters is in the city of Tashkent (12), Fergana Region (5), and Samarkand Region (4); the lowest numbers are in the Navoi and Syrdarya regions (1 each). In terms of attendance, Tashkent City led with 1,107 thousand visits, followed by Fergana (622 thousand) and Khorezm (507 thousand) regions.

Concert Organizations

The country has 51 state concert organizations, which hosted 20,499 concerts attended by 11,844.0 thousand people, or 3,126 per 10,000 population.

The largest numbers of concert organizations operate in Tashkent City (8), the Republic of Karakalpakstan (5), and the Surkhandarya and Fergana regions (4 each). Per 10,000 population, attendance was highest in Tashkent City (9,637 units), Syrdarya Region (6,589), and Navoi Region (5,887).

Circus

A single state circus operates in the country, located in Tashkent. The number of circus performances in 2025 reached 698 units, an increase of 147, or 26.7%. Total attendance reached 255.5 thousand, up by 98.2 thousand, or 62.4%, compared with 2024. Per 10,000 population, circus attendance rose to 67 units—an increase of 59.5%.

Zoos and Botanical Gardens

Uzbekistan has 7 zoos located in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Andijan, Kashkadarya, Namangan, Surkhandarya, and Fergana regions, as well as Tashkent. The fauna count in these facilities totaled 744 units, declining by 107, or 12.6%. Meanwhile, zoo visits increased to 1,465.4 thousand, up by 233.4 thousand, or 18.9%.

Three botanical gardens operate in Tashkent, the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the Bukhara Region. Their combined area reached 113.3 hectares in 2025, an increase of 5.6%. Botanical garden visits surged nearly 3.8-fold to 1,170.3 thousand, corresponding to 309 visits per 10,000 population compared with 83 the previous year.

Cultural and Recreational Parks

The number of cultural and recreational parks in the country reached 161 units, growing by 25 units, or 18.4%. Their total area expanded by 34.5% to 1,830.5 hectares. Total park visits increased to 27.0 million, up by 3.2 million, or 13.2%, compared with 2024.

The city of Tashkent accounts for the highest number of parks (29), followed by the Andijan (20) and Samarkand (17) regions. In terms of attendance per 10,000 population, Namangan Region stood out sharply with 29,161 units—the second-highest figure after Tashkent City (46,063 units)—driven by high park attendance relative to the region's population size.

Information and Library Services

The number of information-library institutions in the country reached 17.8 thousand units in 2025, an increase of 2.8 thousand, or 18.7%. Total library holdings expanded by 4.8% to 89.2 million copies. The total number of registered library users reached 13.1 million people, up 2.3%.

The highest numbers of library institutions were recorded in Samarkand (2.0 thousand) and Kashkadarya (1.8 thousand) regions. By collection volume, Tashkent City led with 17.6 million copies, followed by the Andijan (11.9 million) and Samarkand (10.5 million) regions.

The highest user density per 10,000 population was registered in Syrdarya Region (5,407 users), compared with the national average of 3,461 users.