Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover in January 2026 showed a rapid increase of 29.2% compared to the same period last year, reaching $5.8 billion. According to a report from the Statistics Agency, this figure is $1.3 billion higher than in January 2025.

Imports continue to significantly outpace exports, resulting in a negative trade balance of $2.44 billion. Export volume amounted to $1.69 billion (a 26.7% increase), with Uzbekistan completely abstaining from gold sales this month, whereas gold exports in January last year were $44.3 million. Experts attribute this to the possible fulfillment of the annual plan by the end of last year and expectations of further rises in global gold prices.

The main drivers of exports were services (43.8% of the total volume), industrial goods (18.1%), and textile products (12.8%). Service exports grew by 44.1%, reaching $742.1 million, dominated by travel and transportation. Fruit and vegetable shipments increased by 21.6%, totaling $99.4 million, while energy resource exports decreased by 19.3%.

Imports rose by 30.3%, reaching $4.14 billion, with nearly 36% of all purchases accounted for by machinery and transport equipment. A notable trend was the sharp spike in energy resource imports—the indicator surged by 94.2% to $406.1 million, specifically, gas imports increased almost sevenfold to $167.6 million.

China remains Uzbekistan's main trading partner with a 27.9% share in total turnover. Russia is in second place (18.7%), followed by Kazakhstan (7.1%), Turkey (3.6%), and Afghanistan (2.4%).

Source: podrobno.uz