Remittances flowing into Uzbekistan from abroad rose 13% — or $1.1 billion — to reach $9.3 billion in the first half of 2026, according to a Central Bank review. That compares with $8.2 billion during the same period in 2025.
Inflows accelerated as the half-year progressed. Uzbekistan received $1.2 billion in each of January and February, followed by $1.3 billion in March, $1.6 billion in April, $1.7 billion in May, and $2.2 billion in June. A year earlier, monthly inflows had ranged from $1.1 billion in January and February to $1.8 billion in June.
The regulator attributes the growth to sustained demand for labor and relatively high wages in the countries that traditionally attract Uzbek migrant workers, along with the broad strengthening of those countries' national currencies since the start of the year.
Russia's state statistics agency, Rosstat, reported that the average nominal wage there reached 106,900 rubles in the first quarter — up 15.1% year-on-year in nominal terms and 8.7% in real terms. Meanwhile, the Central Bank calculated, based on official exchange rates from Russia's central bank, that the ruble strengthened against the dollar by an average of 13.5% in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year.
The Central Bank also pointed to an ongoing diversification in the geography of labor migration, which is now showing up in remittance flows from developed countries as well. Between January and June, transfers from the United Kingdom jumped 62%, from European Union countries by 27%, and from the United States by 19%. Among individual EU countries, inflows from Ireland surged particularly sharply — up 86% — while transfers from Lithuania rose 18% and from the Netherlands 7%.
A chart included in the review shows the following shifts in remittance volumes by country:
- Kazakhstan: from $366 million to $469 million
- United States: from $313 million to $372 million
- South Korea: from $282 million to $314 million
- Turkey: from $266 million to $303 million
- United Kingdom: from $89 million to $144 million
- European Union: from $251 million to $319 million
The structure of remittance flows is also shifting. Of the total funds received by individuals, $4.8 billion — or 51.7% — came through direct peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers to bank cards from abroad, a volume that grew 32% compared with the first half of 2025.
Traditional international money transfer systems accounted for $4.3 billion, or 46.7% of the total, but growth there was nearly flat at just 0.3%. Bank transfers via SWIFT made up a smaller share — $142 million, or 1.6% of the total — and that figure actually fell by 43%.
The Central Bank attributes the growing share of P2P transfers to the spread of digital payment services, the speed of such transactions, and their relatively low cost. According to World Bank data, mobile transfers were the cheapest way to send international remittances in the first quarter of 2025, with an average cost of 3.6%.
Meanwhile, outbound transfers from Uzbekistan totaled $1.3 billion in the first half of the year — up 8%, or roughly $100 million, from the same period last year.
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