An increase in the number of corruption crimes and the value of damage caused to public interests was recorded in 2024, the Anti-Corruption Agency said in the National Anti-Corruption Report, which was presented by the agency director Akmal Burkhanov to the Legislative Chamber on September 16.
Last year, 7,354 individuals were prosecuted for 4,649 corruption offenses (16 types in total). The number of convictions increased by 12.5% to 2023 (6,535), and the number of such crimes increased by 12.6% (4,128).
The damage to the public interests from corruption was estimated at 2.81 trillion soums (1.4 trillion soums in 2023 and 2.04 trillion soums in 2022).
Andijan province ranjed on the top on 680 billion soums (previously 243 billion soums), followed by Tashkent cuty—332 billion soums (previously 132 billion soums), Namangan province - 308 billion soums (previously 194 billion soums), and Syrdarya province - 289 billion soums.
After a decline in 2023, last year saw an increase in most categories of corruption crimes:
Theft by misappropriation or embezzlement increased from 3,587 to 4,189 cases (+16.8%),
- fraud, from 935 to 1,191 (+27.4%),
- bribe-taking, from 142 to 187 (+31.7%),
- bribe-giving, from 1,009 to 1,086 (+7.6%),
- forgery in official documents, from 101 to 106 (+4.9%),
- abuse of power or authority, from 200 to 188 (-6%).
In 2024, 123 corruption crimes related to employment, 292 cases related to the issuance of bank loans, and 640 cases related to the misuse of budget funds were identified.
Reportedly, the increase in corruption crimes is linked not only to increased law enforcement efforts to detect them but also to the ineffectiveness of internal control systems in ministries and agencies.
In particular, on March 5 of this year, at an expanded meeting of the National Anti-Corruption Council, the president criticized the insufficient efforts by the "internal anti-corruption compliance control" bodies. Following the meeting, 117 anti-corruption officials were sacked.
In 2024 Uzbekistan ranked 121st out of 180 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, down one point from its 2023 ranking. This is the first decline in the ranking since 2012.
The country still has not implemented a system for declaring the income and assets of civil servants, although this initiative has been discussed since 2017. The deadlines have been postponed. Last time, in early March, the head of state gave directives to the relevant agencies to publish the bill for public input as soon as possible and submit it for review by April 1, 2025, but the document has still not been published or adopted.
