Uzbekistan Pension Fund Says Only Tashkent Covers Costs

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The number of pension recipients in Uzbekistan reached 4,361,432 as of 1 July 2026, an increase of 158,897 people, or 3.8%, from a year earlier, according to the Pension Fund under the Ministry of Economy and Finance in its analytical report for the first half of the year.

The average monthly pension stood at 1,688,061 soums.

Old-age pensions are paid to 3.6 million people, accounting for 83% of all recipients. Disability pensions are received by 482,200 people, or 11%, while survivor's pensions are paid to 261,300 families, representing 6% of beneficiaries.

A total of 154,180 new pensions were granted during the first six months of the year.

Pensioners account for 11% of Uzbekistan's population, one of the lowest shares among the CIS and Baltic states, which the report describes as a demographic advantage for the pension system.

Ferghana Region has the largest number of pensioners, with 515,400 recipients, or one in every eight pensioners nationwide. Ferghana, Samarkand, Andijan and Kashkadarya regions together account for 41% of all pension recipients.

The highest shares of disability pensions were recorded in Navoi Region (18.2%), Syrdarya Region (17.7%) and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (15.3%).

The fund's financial indicators showed mixed trends.

The 2026 budget projects a surplus of 1.6 trillion soums. However, the surplus is entirely the result of a government budget transfer. Without it, the deficit from core insurance operations would amount to 21.4 trillion soums, up 13.8% from a year earlier.

The budget transfer increased by 24% to 23 trillion soums from 18.5 trillion soums, raising its share of the fund's total revenue to 26.2% from 24.3%.

The fund's own revenue increased by 11.7% year on year, while expenditure rose by 12.2%. The report notes that although the gap is small, it is persistent and accumulates over time.

Social tax accounted for 71.5% of the fund's total revenue but was insufficient to finance pension expenditure on its own.

Social tax receipts rose 16.2% in January–June to 31.9 trillion soums from 27.4 trillion soums a year earlier, outpacing inflation.

Tashkent alone generated 10.4 trillion soums, or about one-third of all social tax revenue, exceeding the combined collections of more than half of the country's remaining 13 regions.

The fastest revenue growth was recorded in Tashkent (19.2%), Samarkand Region (19.1%) and Navoi Region (18.4%), while the slowest growth was reported in Tashkent Region (11.3%) and Andijan Region (11.7%). The report says these regions require additional measures to legalize wages.

Regional disparities remain significant.

Nationwide, social tax revenue covered only 76.9% of pension expenditure. Social tax collections totaled 31.9 trillion soums, while pension spending reached 41.4 trillion soums, leaving a gap of 9.5 trillion soums.

Tashkent was the only net contributor, with revenue covering 208.6% of pension expenditure and generating a surplus of 5.4 trillion soums. Navoi Region was close to balance, with a coverage ratio of 99.6%, while 12 regions failed to finance even half of their pension costs.

The lowest coverage ratios were recorded in Samarkand Region (50.8%), Ferghana Region (50.9%) and Kashkadarya Region (51.8%).

Pension spending increased at broadly similar rates across all regions, ranging from 12.5% to 16.3%, while revenue growth varied much more widely. According to the report, this imbalance is expected to widen over time.

Service quality improved during the reporting period.

The Pension Fund provided 1.77 million electronic services in the first half of the year, averaging 295,400 services per month.

Without requiring applications from citizens, 54.2% of newly granted old-age pensions and 87.3% of disability pensions were assigned proactively.

Three new services were introduced, including the issuance of pension certificates, which were used 132,300 times.

The number of citizen appeals fell by 39.2% to 3,751 from 6,168 a year earlier. Declines were recorded across all 15 regional reporting categories.

The number of appeals per 1,000 pensioners dropped from 1.47 to 0.86 despite the increase in the number of beneficiaries.

The report identifies faster expenditure growth than revenue, regional financial imbalances and rising demographic pressure as the main risks facing the pension system, noting that the number of pensioners is increasing by 3.8% annually, outpacing the country's population growth.