Uzbekistan's international trade turnover reached $49.5 billion in January-July 2026, up 8.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, the State Statistics Committee said in a report.
Exports fell 3.6 percent to $19.93 billion, while imports rose 17.8 percent to $29.6 billion. As a result, the trade deficit widened to $9.67 billion, more than double the $4.44 billion gap recorded a year earlier.
Exports excluding gold, however, told a different story, rising 27.7 percent year-on-year to $9.8 billion.
China remained Uzbekistan's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade climbing 33.6 percent over the seven-month period to $11.26 billion, up from $8.43 billion a year earlier. Russia followed with $8.13 billion (up 11.8 percent), and Kazakhstan with $3.27 billion (up 24 percent). China accounted for 22.7 percent of Uzbekistan's total trade turnover, Russia for 16.4 percent, and Kazakhstan for 6.6 percent.
Gold exports tumble
The decline in overall exports was driven largely by a sharp drop in shipments of non-monetary gold. Uzbekistan exported $2.8 billion worth of gold in the first seven months of the year, down 63.1 percent — roughly a 2.7-fold decrease — from $7.59 billion in the same period of 2025. Gold's share of total exports fell from 36.7 percent to 14.1 percent.
Against this backdrop, the composition of Uzbekistan's exports continued to shift. The services sector's share rose from 26.2 percent to 36.8 percent (compared with 24.1 percent a year earlier), industrial goods climbed from 11.3 percent to 14.4 percent, chemical products from 5.6 percent to 7.8 percent, and miscellaneous manufactured goods from 4.3 percent to 8.4 percent.
Services lead export growth
Services became the single largest export category over the seven-month period, with the sector's value rising 35.3 percent to $7.33 billion from $5.42 billion a year earlier. Travel and tourism made up more than half of services exports — 53.8 percent, or $3.94 billion — a 55 percent jump from $2.5 billion in the same period last year.
Transport services brought in $2.32 billion (31.7 percent of the services total), telecommunications, computer and information services $622 million (8.5 percent), and other business services $209.5 million (2.9 percent).
Exports of industrial goods rose 22.4 percent to $2.87 billion. Within that category, shipments of textile yarn, fabrics and finished goods reached $1.15 billion (up 26.3 percent), non-ferrous metals $1.04 billion (up 7.8 percent), and non-metallic mineral products $207.7 million (up 29.7 percent). Exports of iron and steel nearly doubled to $185.1 million, a 91.5 percent increase.
Exports of miscellaneous manufactured goods surged 89.1 percent, from $890.4 million to $1.68 billion. Clothing and accessories exports grew 30 percent to $752.3 million, while other manufactured goods not classified elsewhere more than tripled to $868.4 million.
Machinery and transport equipment exports rose 34.9 percent to $757.2 million. Within this category, other transport equipment exports climbed 59.6 percent to $115.7 million, power-generating machinery rose 38.9 percent to $119.4 million, and telecommunications and sound-recording equipment jumped 3.5-fold to $61.6 million. Car exports, however, slipped 2.2 percent to $157.2 million.
Chemical exports increased 35 percent to $1.56 billion, driven mainly by inorganic chemicals, which rose 47.2 percent to $944.8 million. Fertilizer exports edged up 1.4 percent to $255.3 million, plastics in primary form rose 25.2 percent to $167.8 million, and medical and pharmaceutical exports climbed 53.6 percent to $39.7 million.
Food and live animal exports totaled $1.54 billion, up 2.3 percent, with their share of total exports rising from 7.3 percent to 7.7 percent.
Textile exports climb
Textile exports reached $1.9 billion over the seven months, up 26.6 percent year-on-year and accounting for 9.5 percent of total exports. Finished textile goods made up 52.2 percent of textile shipments, with yarn accounting for 31.4 percent.
Imports surge on machinery, food and fuel
Merchandise imports rose by $4.1 billion to reach $26 billion, while services imports totaled $3.6 billion.
Machinery and transport equipment remained the largest import category, rising 20 percent to $9.7 billion and increasing its share of total imports from 32.2 percent to 32.8 percent.
Imports of cars and other transport equipment reached $2.4 billion, up 27.9 percent. Passenger vehicle imports specifically jumped 73.5 percent to $920.4 million, while imports of auto parts and accessories rose 10.9 percent to $1.09 billion.
Imports of electrical machinery and equipment climbed 38.1 percent to $1.59 billion, power-generating machinery rose 48.2 percent to $989.7 million, and telecommunications equipment imports surged 87.5 percent to $1.01 billion.
By contrast, imports of machinery designed for specific industries fell 11 percent to $1.38 billion, and other transport equipment imports dropped 16.5 percent to $398.3 million — within which aircraft imports fell 41.5 percent to $202 million.
Energy imports climb
Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials rose 10.7 percent to $2.51 billion. Oil and petroleum product imports totaled $1.34 billion (up 15.1 percent), while natural and manufactured gas imports reached $1.01 billion (up 8.2 percent). Imports of liquefied propane gas jumped 3.6-fold to $105.4 million.
Gasoline imports rose 60.8 percent in value terms to $426 million, while diesel fuel imports were largely flat, edging up 1.1 percent to $163.3 million. Electricity imports fell 17.9 percent to $55.8 million, even as electricity exports rose 30.3 percent to $134 million.
Services imports for the seven-month period totaled $3.62 billion, up 13.3 percent. Travel and tourism accounted for 43.6 percent of services imports, or $1.58 billion, while transport made up 27.4 percent, or $989.6 million.
China remained Uzbekistan's largest source of imports at $9.56 billion, or 32.3 percent of the total. Russia supplied $5.3 billion in goods and services, and Kazakhstan $2.4 billion. Overall, Uzbekistan imported goods and services from more than 160 countries.
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