In the first half of 2026, remittances from abroad to Uzbekistan increased significantly, reaching $9.3 billion. This marks a rise of $1.1 billion or 13% compared to the same period last year, according to the Central Bank's review. In the first half of 2025, the figure stood at $8.2 billion.
The inflow of funds accelerated towards the end of the first half. In January and February, monthly inflows were over $1.2 billion, in March — $1.3 billion, in April — $1.6 billion, in May — $1.7 billion, and in June — $2.2 billion. A year earlier, monthly receipts ranged from $1.1 billion in January-February to $1.8 billion in June.
The regulator attributes the growth in remittances to relatively high demand for labor in traditional labor migration countries and sustained wage levels, as well as the overall strengthening of their national currencies since the beginning of the year.
Specifically, according to Rosstat, the average nominal accrued wage in Russia in the first quarter reached 106,900 rubles, increasing by 15.1% in nominal terms and 8.7% in real terms year-on-year. Meanwhile, the Russian ruble strengthened against the dollar by an average of 13.5% compared to the same period last year, as calculated by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan based on official exchange rates of the Bank of Russia.
The Central Bank notes the ongoing diversification of labor migration geography, which is also reflected in remittance flows from developed countries. In January-June, remittances from the UK grew by 62%, from EU countries by 27%, and from the US by 19%. Among individual EU countries, inflows from Ireland (up 86%), Lithuania (up 18%), and the Netherlands (up 7%) increased significantly.
The structure of remittances is also changing. $4.8 billion, or 51.7% of funds received by individuals, came through p2p transfers directly to bank cards from abroad. Their volume increased by 32% compared to the first half of 2025. Through traditional international money transfer systems, $4.3 billion (46.7% of the total) was received, with growth of only 0.3%.
Another $142 million, or 1.6%, came through SWIFT bank transfers, with their volume decreasing by 43%. The Central Bank explains the growing share of p2p transfers by the widespread adoption of digital payment services, high transaction speed, and relatively low transaction costs. According to the World Bank, in the first quarter of 2025, mobile transfers were the cheapest way to make international transfers, with an average cost of 3.6%.
In turn, in the first half of the year, $1.3 billion was sent from Uzbekistan abroad — 8% or about $100 million more than a year earlier.
Source: www.gazeta.uz