Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover (FTT) totaled $31.3bn in January–May 2025, rising by $4.09bn or 15% y/y. The growth was largely driven by a sharp rise in exports, while imports posted modest gains.
Exports reached $14.82bn, up 31.1% from the same period in 2024, fueled by strong service exports and increased sales of industrial and agricultural goods. Imports amounted to $16.49bn, growing by 3.7% y/y. This resulted in a trade deficit of $1.68bn, underlining Uzbekistan’s continued reliance on foreign goods and services despite a boost in export activity.
Key Trade Partners
Uzbekistan maintained trade relations with 189 countries during the reporting period. China, Russia, and Kazakhstan remained the country’s largest trading partners.
Trade turnover with China rose to $5.40bn in January–May 2025, up from $5.06bn in 2024 and $4.56bn in 2023. China accounted for 17.2% of total trade. Russia followed with $4.84bn, slightly up from $4.76bn in 2024 and well above the $3.87bn recorded in 2023, representing 15.4% of overall FTT.
Trade with Kazakhstan reached $1.79bn, up from $1.58bn a year earlier but slightly below the $1.94bn recorded in 2023, accounting for 5.7% of total trade. Other key partners included Türkiye (3.5%) and South Korea (2.3%), reflecting Uzbekistan’s growing links across Eurasia.
On the export front, major destinations for Uzbek goods and services included Russia (10.8%), China (5.1%), Kazakhstan and Afghanistan (3.5% each), Türkiye (2.9%), France (2.7%), UAE (1.5%), Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (1.4% each), and Pakistan (1.1%). Together, these ten countries made up 33.8% of total exports.
Imports were concentrated among a few major partners. China (28.1%) led by a wide margin, followed by Russia (19.6%), Kazakhstan (7.7%), South Korea (4.2%), Türkiye (4.1%), Germany (3.1%), and India (2.7%). Over two-thirds of imports came from these seven countries, highlighting Uzbekistan’s dependence on major industrial economies for machinery, equipment, and chemicals.
Sectoral Insights
Uzbekistan’s export profile showed substantial growth in services and agricultural products, while textiles lagged behind.
Services exports surged by 32.2%, reaching $3.25bn, and accounted for 21.9% of total exports. The top contributors were travel and tourism (50.2%), transport services (35.2%), telecommunications and IT services (8.6%), and other business services (3.3%).
In the agricultural sector, the country exported 741,000 tons of fruit and vegetable products, a 2.8% increase from the previous year. Despite the moderate rise in volume, the export value jumped by 47.9% to $619.6mn, reflecting improved pricing and strong global demand. These products accounted for 4.2% of total exports.
Textile exports, by contrast, declined by 18.0%, totaling $1.06bn and making up 7.1% of exports. Finished textile goods comprised 46.8% of the total textile exports, followed by yarn at 33.3%, indicating a drop in global demand and pricing pressures in the industry.
Between January and May 2025, Uzbekistan exported $6.6bn worth of gold, accounting for 43.8% of the country’s total export earnings. This marks a 56.9% increase compared to the same period in 2024. According to official data, no gold was exported in January, while monthly figures show $1.7bn in February, $1.9bn in both March and April, and $1bn in May. The surge in gold exports is likely linked to rising global prices, with gold reaching $3,341 per ounce as of June 24.
On the import side, goods made up the bulk with a value of $14.8bn. The largest categories were machinery and transport equipment (33.6%), industrial goods (16.1%), and chemicals (12.9%), pointing to sustained demand for capital goods, construction materials, and pharmaceuticals.
Service imports reached $1.70bn, increasing by 38.6% y/y and accounting for 10.3% of total imports. The largest components were travel services (54.9%), transport services (20.3%), and telecommunications and IT (9.6%), showing a rise in outbound travel, logistics needs, and digital services.
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