The Uzbek economy is trying to return to pre-pandemic figures. This was reflected in 14%GDP growth compared to the Q1 of the last year.

In Q1 of 2021, the economy of Uzbekistan returned to a strong growth trajectory, the Center for Economic Research and Reforms said in a report.

Reportedly in three months of the year, the GDP grew by 3% to 128.6 trillion soums. In 2020, this figure amounted to 110.5 trillion soums.

According to key macroeconomic indicators, inflation has continued to decline, with inflation rising by 2.5% in the first quarter and 2.8% compared to the same period in 2020.

“However, the main factor of inflation was the rise in food prices, which increased by 3.1% compared to December 2020, while there was a decrease compared to the same period last year (4.3% in the first 3 months of 2020).

The rise in non-food prices remained at 1.7 percent. But the cost of services has grown faster than in the same period last year. This is 2.7% compared to the same period last year and 1.5% in the first three months of this year.

The volume of industrial output over the past three months amounted to 91.5 trillion soums (an 3.8%increase). In 2020, this figure was 82.2 trillion soums.

Services topped 61 trillion soums (a 5.8% increase) in Q1. Last year's figures amounted to 50.4 trillion soums.

The retail trade turnover amounted to 46.7 trillion soums (an 2.8% increase), compared to 40.1 trillion soums a year earlier.

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the first quarter amounted to 29.9 trillion soums (an 3.1% increase), while last year the figure was at 25.2 trillion soums.

In the Q1 of 2021, construction work amounted to 19.5 trillion soums (an increase of 0.5%). In 2020, it amounted to 15.5 trillion soums.

The source said that in the Q1 of this year, the decline was observed in exports, imports and foreign trade turnover. In particular, exports reached US$ 2.4 billion (down 26.5%), imports - US$ 4.7 billion (down 1.3%), foreign trade turnover - US$ 7.1 billion (down 11.6%). Last year, exports amounted to US$ 3.4 billion, imports to US$ 4.8 billion and foreign trade turnover to US$ 8.1 billion.

Investments in fixed assets in Q1 of this year topped 35.6 trillion soums (down by 3.5%). Last year, it stood at 33.3 trillion soums.

According to the Center, the global crisis continues to affect the economic growth of Uzbekistan. This is reflected in the shrinking of some sectors of the economy compared to Q1 of last year and the decline in foreign trade (mainly due to the halt of gold exports).