As of May 1, 2023, Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover reached $19.6bn, marking a considerable increase of $2.3bn (13.4%) compared to the same period in the previous year, as per a recent report by the country's Statistics Agency.
As a result, the country's exports accounted for $7.7bn, while its imports reached $11.9bn.
In April, Uzbekistan reduced its gold exports to $650mn. Total overseas shipments of precious metal amounted to $3.06bn.
Uzbekistan conducted trade with 176 countries worldwide between January and April of 2023, with China leading at 17%. Russia comes in second at 15.1%, followed by Kazakhstan at 7.7% and Türkiye at 5.4%. The Republic of Korea and Germany each represent 4.1% and 4% of foreign trade, respectively. Kyrgyzstan accounts for 1.7%.
Exports
Uzbekistan's exports saw some changes over four months of this year. Manufactured goods (excluding gold) made up the largest share at $1.3bn, but there was a 13.6% decline compared to last year.
Textile exports decreased by almost 17%, while non-ferrous metal exports fell even more sharply by 21%. However, food exports rose by 20% to $473.4mn, mostly from horticultural and cereals.
The third place went to machine-building products with $376.6mn, which saw a significant growth of 74%.
Consumer goods followed with $372mn, and chemical production lagged slightly with $370mn. Commodity exports remain low, with more than half of the revenue coming from gas and fertilizer feedstock supply. On the other hand, oil and oil products exports grew significantly by 89% to $64.4mn.
Imports
According to recent statistics, Uzbekistan has significantly increased its spending on imported vehicles. In the past year, the country's expenditure on car imports climbed 41% to $408mn, while the country's spending on car parts surged by 15% to $527.9mn.
Additionally, the expenditure on aircraft purchases reached almost $788mn.
Regarding manufactured goods, Uzbekistan spent $1.82bn, with iron and steel imports remaining at last year's $764.5mn and a 42% increase in rubber product imports.
Chemical products were the third highest spending category, totaling $1.58bn. However, there was a slight decrease in medical and pharmaceutical supplies, with total spending of $523.9mn.
Finally, food supplies increased by 6.7%, with a total of $1.18bn spent, including $442mn on cereals (a 19.3% increase), $188mn on sugar and confectionery (a 42% increase), and $124.3mn on vegetables and fruits.
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