Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In January-September 2019, the foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan made up US$31.64 billion and increased by US$8.57 billion, or by 37.2% more than the corresponding period of last year.

According to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, of this number, exports reached US$13.67 billion (growth rate - 45.5%), while imports reached US$17.96 billion (growth rate - 31.5%). A passive balance of foreign trade in the amount of US$4.29 billion was noted.

Uzbekistan has trade relations with more than 181 countries of the world. The largest volume of its foreign trade turnover among them was recorded with China (18.7%), the Russian Federation (14.9%), Kazakhstan (8.3%), the Republic of Korea (6.6%), Turkey (5.8%), Germany (2.4%) and Kyrgyzstan (2.0%).

In the III quarter of 2019, the volume of foreign trade turnover made up US$11.96 billion. The United States, and compared with the second quarter of this year, increased by 16.4%.

In the III quarter, the share of imports in foreign trade turnover, compared with the II quarter, decreased (from 58.1 to 56.2%), and the share of exports increased (from 41.9 to 43.8%).

Positive changes are observed in the dynamics of the quarterly structure of foreign trade turnover. So, compared with the third quarter of last year, the share of exports in foreign trade increased by 8.9 percentage points.

According to the results of January-September 2019, the trade turnover with the CIS countries reached US$10.7 billion, and the share in the foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan made up 33.8%.

The strengthening of socio-economic relations with neighboring countries also has a positive effect on mutual trade.

For example, 37.7% of trade with the CIS countries is occupied by neighboring states, including 42.6% - export and 33.9% - import.

The share of other countries in foreign trade turnover in the reporting period reached 66.2% (US$20.94 billion), the growth rate of foreign trade turnover, compared to the same period of last year, was 47.8%.

Among the 20 major partner countries for foreign economic activity, there is an active balance of foreign trade with five countries, in particular with Afghanistan (US$424.2 million), Kyrgyzstan (US$423.7 million), and Tajikistan (US$104.0 million), France (US$44.0 million) and Iran (US$6.1 million).

For the remaining 15 countries, a passive balance of foreign trade is maintained.

The development of international economic relations contributes to sustainable economic growth of exports to achieve certain results. So, during the reporting period, the number of entities involved in the export of goods and services, compared with the same period of last year, increased by 1,074 units and their total number was 5 135 units.

The volume of exports of the Republic of Uzbekistan in January-September 2019 made up US$13.67 billion (an increase compared to the same period of last year reached 45.5%). The share of exported goods was 81.4%, of which energy carriers and oil products - 16.1%, textiles and textile products - 8.6%, food products - 8.4%, non-ferrous metals and products from them - 5.2 %, chemical products and products from it - 4.9%.

An analysis of the structure of exported goods and services in January-September 2019 also showed that, compared with the corresponding period of the last year, there were no significant changes, however, it should be noted that the volume of exports of all types of goods and services, except for chemical products and products from it , in January-September 2019, compared with the corresponding period last year, increased.

Over the past three years, the dynamics of diversification of the export structure has been observed. Thus, the share of energy carriers and oil products increased by 3.7 pp and amounted to 16.1%, food products - 2.1%, ferrous metals and products from them - 0.5%. The remaining positions show a decrease in the share due to a substantial increase in the share of food products, energy and oil products in the export structure.

The largest share of exports of goods is natural gas (18.1% of the total export of goods), textiles (10.6%), copper and its products (4.6%), fruits and berries (4.6%).

Over the past three years, the volume of exports to the CIS countries has increased and their share in total exports has increased from 32.3% in 2017 to 34.1% in 2019. Accordingly, the share in total exports of other foreign countries amounted to 65.9%.

Compared with last year, our main partners in the export of goods and services in foreign trade in January-September 2019 were countries such as the PRC (16.4% of total exports), the Russian Federation (13.1%), Kazakhstan (8.5%), Turkey (6.4%), Kyrgyzstan (3.9%), Afghanistan (3.1%) and Tajikistan (1.7%). Their share in total exports exceeded 50%.

This year, among seven major partner countries for the export of goods and services, Tajikistan has regained its place in terms of the share of exports instead of Iran. Along with this, Kyrgyzstan strengthens its position from year to year, ahead of Iran and Afghanistan.

The geography of partner countries for the export of goods and services, compared with the same period of last year, increased from 148 to 169 countries.

The volume of export of services in January-September 2019 made up US$2.45 billion, or 18.6% of its total volume and increased by 12.7% compared to the same period of last year. In the export of services, the lion’s share is transport services and travel (tourism).

The volume of export of fruits and vegetables in physical terms amounted to more than 1.03 million tons and, in value terms, US$959.3 million (growth rates, compared to the same period of last year, amounted to 16.6% and 46.4%, respectively). Of these, more than 612,800 tons of vegetables were exported in the amount of US$449.2 million, as well as 418,900 tons of fruits and berries in the amount of US$510.1 million (growth rate in value terms , compared with the same period of last year, respectively was 89.5% and 22.0%).

Due to the fact that our management pays considerable attention to the development of agriculture and horticulture, the quality and volume of exported goods are increasing from year to year. So, in January-September 2019, the share of fruits and vegetables in total exports amounted to 7.0%.

In January-September 2019, the volume of exports of textile products made up US$1.17 billion and increased, compared to the same period in 2018, by 21.4%, which reached 8.6% of its total volume. In the structure of textile exports, the main share is cotton yarn (56.3%), as well as finished knitwear and garments (23.1%). Since the beginning of the year, more than 384 types of textile products have been exported to 56 countries.

In January-September 2019, the volume of imports in the Republic of Uzbekistan reached US$17.96 billion (growth rate - 31.5%). The main share in its structure is occupied by machinery and equipment, including parts and accessories (44.8%), chemical products and products from it (12.7%), as well as food products (7.5%).

An analysis of the dynamics of imports of goods and services also showed that in January-September 2019, compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, the volume of imports of goods increased by US$4.15 billion and made up US$16.16 billion. Service imports reached US$1.8 billion.

The largest share of imports of energy and oil products (95.0%), non-ferrous metals and products from them (66.1%), food products (65.9%), as well as ferrous metals and products from them (65.1%) in the CIS countries, while in other foreign countries the lion’s share falls on machinery and equipment (88.3%), as well as on chemical products and products from it (79.0%).

An analysis of the structure of imported goods and services in January-September 2019 also showed that, compared to the corresponding period of last year, the share of imports of machinery and equipment, including parts and accessories, in its total volume increased from 40.8% to 44.8 %, and the share of food imports decreased from 8.7% to 7.5%.

In dynamics, a stable ratio of the share of imports with the CIS countries and other foreign countries remains, which is 33.6:66.4.

According to the results of the reporting period, China ranked first among the major countries of import partners with a share of imports in the total volume of 20.4%, ahead of the Russian Federation with a share of 16.2%. Singapore made it to the top twenty major import partner countries due to the accelerated growth in imports from the Republic of Uzbekistan (with a growth rate of 7.6 rubles more compared to the same period of last year).

According to the results of January-September 2019, goods and services from 153 countries were imported to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Seven major partner countries (China, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Germany and the United States) have a share of 68.0% of total imports, which amounts to more than US$12.22 billion.

The volume of imports of services in January-September 2019 made up US$1.8 billion, or 10.0% of total imports, and increased by 8.7% compared to the same period of last year. The main share in the import of services is travel (tourism).

In January-September 2019, the volume of imports of building materials reached US$1.004 billion dollars. The United States increased by 17.0% compared to the same period in 2018. The share of imports of building materials in their total volume reached 5.6%. Wood and its products (46.1%), cement (13.4%), glass and products from it (4.8%), as well as asbestos (2.5%) make up the bulk of the structure of imports of building materials.

The volume of imports of building materials in January-September 2019, compared with the corresponding period in 2018, increased significantly. The growth in imports of these materials is primarily associated with large-scale construction and reconstruction work carried out in the republic.

It is important to note that the growing volume of imports of machinery and equipment is a reflection of the industrialization policy, as well as an active reform to maintain foreign direct investment in the creation, modernization and increase of production capacities.