The poverty rate in Uzbekistan declined down to 8.9% in 2024, the Center for Economic Research and Reforms said in a report today.
The assessment was conducted jointly with the World Bank and was based on an international calculation methodology. According to this methodology, household budgets were studied throughout the country over the course of a year.
About 10 thousand families took part in the 2021 survey, in 2022 the coverage was above 14 thousand households, and during 2024, more than 16 thousand households were surveyed.
An analysis of changes in the level of well-being of the population showed that in 2023 the poverty rate decreased from 14% to 11%, and in 2024 - to 8.9%. Last year, 719 thousand people were reportedly lifted out of poverty.
According to the Center for Economic Research and Reform, poverty reduction was made possible by providing employment, supporting entrepreneurship and efficient use of land.
As a result of these measures, real incomes of the population increased by 10.7% last year, amounting to an average of 2.1 million soums per capita per month (at the beginning of the year - 1.7 million soums).
The main sources of income are:
- wages - 42.6% (in 2023 - 41.9%);
- business income - 22.9% (21.4%);
- pensions, social assistance and subsidies - 18.2% (18.9%);
- income from agriculture and household plots - 10.7% (9.8%);
- money remittances from abroad - 2% (3.1%);
- other income - 3.6% (4.9%).
Income from business activity increased by 1.5 percentage points, and income from agriculture - by 0.9 percentage points. At the same time, the share of money transfers decreased to 2%.
In 2024, income in form of wages rose by 12.9%, which was reportedly facilitated by the employment of 5.1 million people. The share of the officially employed population increased by 30%.
In addition, 159,000 people gained access to 61,000 hectares of land registered as farms.
In December, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev underscored that the poverty rate would drop to 9% by the end of 2024. According to him, if cooperation with entrepreneurs continues, “in the coming years we will be able to reduce this figure to 6%.”
