Uzbekistan’s Foreign Trade Turnover Reaches US$49.5 Billion

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover reached US$49.5 billion in January-July 2026, an increase of US$3.7 billion, or 8.1%, from the same period a year earlier, according to the National Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The increase in turnover was driven entirely by imports. Exports of goods and services declined by 3.6% to US$19.9 billion, while imports rose 17.8% to US$29.6 billion.

As a result, Uzbekistan’s foreign trade deficit widened to US$9.7 billion, compared with US$4.4 billion a year earlier.

At the same time, exports of goods excluding gold recorded substantial growth, rising 27.7% to US$9.8 billion. This indicates that the decline in the overall export figure was primarily linked to lower shipments of non-monetary gold.

Exports: Growth excluding gold and faster growth in services

Goods accounted for 63.2% of exports, at US$12.6 billion, while services accounted for 36.8%, at US$7.3 billion. Services exports increased 35.3% from January-July 2025. Travel, or tourism, accounted for the largest share at 53.8%, or US$3.9 billion, followed by transport services at 31.7%, or US$2.3 billion. Telecommunications, computer and information services accounted for 8.5%, or US$622 million, while other business services made up 2.9%, or US$209.5 million.

Exports of goods, meanwhile, declined 3.6% to US$19.9 billion. The main reason was a sharp drop in shipments of non-monetary gold, which fell from US$7.6 billion to US$2.8 billion, a decline of more than 63%.

Excluding gold, the structure of exports looks different. Industrial goods accounted for the largest share at US$2.9 billion, up 22.4%, followed by various manufactured goods at US$1.7 billion, up nearly 1.9 times, chemicals and related products at US$1.6 billion, up 35%, and food products and live animals at US$1.5 billion.

Textile exports reached US$1.9 billion, up 26.6%, accounting for 9.5% of total goods exports. Finished textile products accounted for 52.2% of textile exports and yarn for 31.4%. Knitted fabric accounted for 9%, fabrics for 5%, socks for 2% and carpets for 1%.

Exports of fruit and vegetable products totaled 1,283.9 thousand tonnes during the seven-month period, up 0.4%, or 5.5 thousand tonnes, in physical terms. In value terms, however, exports declined 3.9% to US$1,025.4 million, accounting for 5.1% of total exports. Vegetables made the largest contribution, with exports rising to 539.6 thousand tonnes worth US$200.5 million. Fruit exports declined to 251 thousand tonnes worth US$308 million. Shipments of cherries, apricots and dried grapes fell, while exports of grapes, carrots and garlic increased.

Imports: Machinery, food and fuel

Imports of goods and services reached US$29.6 billion in January-July 2026, up 17.8%. Goods imports increased by US$4.1 billion to US$26 billion, while services imports amounted to US$3.6 billion, up 13.3%.

Machinery and transport equipment remained the largest import category, at US$9.7 billion, or 32.8% of total imports, representing a 20% increase. Within this category, US$2.4 billion was spent on automobiles, including US$920.4 million on passenger cars, whose imports increased 1.7 times. Industrial goods accounted for US$4.4 billion, or 14.8%, including US$1.7 billion in iron and steel.

Imports of chemicals amounted to US$3.6 billion, or 12.1%, including more than US$1.1 billion in medical and pharmaceutical products. Food imports increased 41.9% to US$3.3 billion, while imports of mineral fuels rose 10.7% to US$2.5 billion. Within the latter category, gasoline imports increased 60.8% to US$426 million.

Travel accounted for the largest share of services imports at 43.6%, or US$1.6 billion, followed by transport services at 27.4%, or US$989.6 million.

Main trading partners

Uzbekistan trades with more than 200 countries. China remained its largest trading partner by total foreign trade turnover, at US$11.26 billion, or 22.7% of total turnover. Russia followed with US$8.13 billion, or 16.4%, Kazakhstan with US$3.27 billion, or 6.6%, Türkiye with US$1.65 billion, or 3.3%, and Afghanistan with US$1.23 billion, or 2.5%. Hong Kong recorded notable growth, from US$85.2 million to US$776.8 million, while trade with Kyrgyzstan increased from US$505.1 million to US$776.7 million.

The main buyers of Uzbek goods and services were Russia, accounting for 14.2% of total exports, or US$2.82 billion; China, with 8.5%, or US$1.7 billion; Afghanistan, with 5.5%, or US$1.09 billion; Kazakhstan, with 4.4%, or US$868 million; and France, with 4.3%, or US$854.9 million. The 10 largest buyers accounted for more than 50% of total exports.

Imports were mainly supplied by China, which accounted for 32.3%, or US$9.56 billion, followed by Russia at 17.9%, or US$5.3 billion, and Kazakhstan at 8.1%, or US$2.4 billion. Türkiye and South Korea each accounted for 3.5%, with imports from each exceeding US$1 billion, while Turkmenistan and Germany each accounted for 2.2%. Goods and services were imported from more than 160 countries.