Uzbekistan’s External Debt Rises to US$82.2 Billion

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan’s total external debt increased by more than 18 billion US dollars in 2025, reaching 82.2 billion US dollars, according to a report by the Central Bank on the country’s balance of payments, international investment position, and external debt.

The growth occurred amid ongoing global geopolitical tensions and elevated economic uncertainty, although macroeconomic indicators showed positive dynamics. The regulator attributed this to expanding foreign trade, active borrowing in international financial markets, diversification of labor migration, and rising remittance inflows.

The current account deficit in 2025 stood at 3.9 percent of GDP, or 5.8 billion US dollars, down from 4.7 percent of GDP a year earlier. Despite faster growth in exports compared to imports, the trade deficit in goods and services remained at 19.9 billion US dollars. This was partly offset by transfers, with a positive secondary income balance of 13.7 billion US dollars and a primary income surplus of 371.4 million US dollars.

Total exports grew by 23 percent to 32.3 billion US dollars, or 22.5 billion US dollars excluding gold. Goods exports reached 23 billion US dollars, while services exports increased by 42 percent to 9.3 billion US dollars, supported by tourism growth, transport corridor development, and IT sector reforms.

Commodity market dynamics also had a significant impact. Gold prices rose by 63 percent over the year, silver doubled, copper increased by 32 percent, uranium rose by 5 percent, while cotton prices declined by 7 percent.

Imports rose by 20 percent to 52.2 billion US dollars, driven by strong investment activity and sustained consumer demand. Goods imports amounted to 38.6 billion US dollars, while services imports reached 13.6 billion US dollars, with the highest import volumes recorded in the fourth quarter.

The current account deficit was financed through capital inflows. Net foreign direct investment increased by nearly 50 percent to 4.4 billion US dollars, or about 3 percent of GDP. Portfolio investment inflows also rose by 40 percent to 4.4 billion US dollars, mainly due to international bond issuances. During the year, the government, banks, and enterprises issued a total of 14 bond placements, while two eurobond issues were fully repaid.

The financial account ended the year with a deficit of 9.3 billion US dollars. However, the country’s net international investment position strengthened twofold to 19.1 billion US dollars.

Residents’ foreign assets increased by 33 percent to 128.4 billion US dollars, while external liabilities rose by 26 percent to 109.3 billion US dollars. The growth in assets was primarily driven by an increase in international reserves, which reached 66.3 billion US dollars, supported by higher gold prices.

Public external debt stood at 40.5 billion US dollars at the beginning of the year, with its ratio to GDP declining to 27.5 percent. According to the report, all public borrowing is long-term and mainly on concessional terms.

Corporate external debt reached 41.7 billion US dollars, or 28.4 percent of GDP, with more than 92 percent of obligations classified as long-term. Of this, 6.5 billion US dollars represents liabilities to direct foreign investors, 7.3 billion US dollars comes from international bonds, and the remainder consists of private sector loans without government guarantees.

Overall, external debt increased by 28.2 percent compared to the previous year, with public debt rising by 6.6 billion US dollars and corporate debt increasing by 11.5 billion US dollars.