Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan’s absolute poverty rate under the World Bank’s international methodology fell from 4.4% in 2022 to 2.3% in 2025, with around 3.7 million people moving out of poverty during this period, according to a new World Bank study, “Uzbekistan Poverty and Equity Assessment: Towards Shared Prosperity and Opportunity for All,” presented jointly with the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The report identifies Uzbekistan as one of the upper-middle-income countries that have achieved significant progress in reducing poverty in recent years. Based on the poverty threshold established for upper-middle-income countries in Europe and Central Asia, Uzbekistan accounted for around 40% of the overall reduction in poverty among countries in this regional group.
Changes have also affected the structure of household well-being. In 2021, 37% of Uzbekistan’s population was classified as middle class, while by 2025 the share had exceeded 72%. Between 2019 and 2024, 44% of the country’s population moved into a higher economic category.
Employment also increased among the most disadvantaged households. The share of men from such households who had paid employment rose from 18% in 2022 to 46% in 2025. At the same time, real annual wages in disadvantaged households increased by 11–12%.
According to the study, poverty in Uzbekistan is no longer predominantly a rural phenomenon. Faster poverty reduction in rural areas has substantially narrowed the urban-rural gap. While the difference stood at 5.9 percentage points in 2021, it had declined to 1.2 percentage points by 2025.
The presentation of the study also addressed ways to improve household well-being and economic mobility, reduce regional disparities, create stable and adequately paid jobs, expand women’s economic participation and improve the effectiveness of the social protection system.
Further priorities identified include increasing household incomes, expanding sustainable and decent employment, increasing women’s economic participation and consolidating the progress already achieved.
