Uzbekistan's public debt reached $48.3 billion as of July 1, 2026, according to an analysis by the Ministry of Economy and Finance — an increase of $4.8 billion compared with a year earlier.
Despite the rising dollar figure, public debt stood at 27 percent of gross domestic product, down from 29.6 percent a year prior, as the economy's rapid expansion continues to outpace the growth in borrowing.
External versus domestic debt
Of the total credit obtained by the Uzbek government, $40.7 billion, or 84 percent, is external debt. The remaining $7.6 billion is domestic debt, accounting for 16 percent of total borrowing.
The bulk of the increase in public debt came from external borrowing, which grew by $4.2 billion over the year. Domestic debt rose by a comparatively modest $642 million.
Of the external debt, $21.7 billion (45 percent of the total) carries fixed interest rates, while $18.7 billion (39 percent) was borrowed at variable rates. An additional $266 million was borrowed interest-free.
Currency composition
The largest share of external debt — $27.4 billion — was borrowed in U.S. dollars. Additional loans were denominated in euros ($3.9 billion equivalent), Japanese yen ($2.7 billion), Uzbek soums ($2.1 billion) and Chinese yuan ($1.5 billion). Of domestic debt, $5 billion was borrowed in soums and $2.4 billion in U.S. dollars.
Who is lending?
International financial institutions provided $22.5 billion of external debt, or 55 percent of the total. The World Bank was the single largest lender, with $9.1 billion in outstanding credit, followed by the Asian Development Bank at $8.2 billion. The Islamic Development Bank has extended $1.2 billion, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank $2.3 billion.
Loans from foreign government financial institutions reached $11.45 billion, of which $3.9 billion came from Chinese banks. Japan's international cooperation agency and other Japanese lenders provided a further $3.1 billion, while France's development agency and other French institutions contributed $1.3 billion.
Debt owed to international investors, meanwhile, reached $6.8 billion — up $1 billion from a year earlier, reflecting Uzbekistan's growing reliance on Eurobond markets alongside traditional multilateral lenders.
Where the money went
The ministry said exactly half of external debt — $20.5 billion — was used to cover budget deficits. Another $5.5 billion went to the fuel and energy sector, $3 billion to transport, and $3.3 billion to agriculture and water management.
Housing and utilities received $3.4 billion, while healthcare, education, information and communications technology and other sectors together received $3.7 billion. Business support programs received $624 million, and the chemical industry $605 million.
A steady climb, now leveling off relative to GDP
Uzbekistan's public debt has grown steadily over the past several years. It stood at $17.8 billion in 2019, before climbing to $23.36 billion in 2020 and $26.3 billion in 2021. By 2022, it had reached $29.2 billion, and $34.9 billion by 2023.
Government debt rose to $40.2 billion in 2024 and $46.85 billion by the end of 2025 — the single largest annual increase on record, at $6.6 billion.
By the end of the first quarter of 2026, the combined external debt of the government and the country's businesses had reached $82.2 billion, of which $40.5 billion represented sovereign external debt and $41.7 billion corporate external debt.
What international assessors say
The debt buildup has coincided with a broadly positive assessment from international lenders and rating agencies. The International Monetary Fund concluded its 2026 Article IV consultation with Uzbekistan in June, noting that public and publicly guaranteed debt had actually declined as a share of GDP — from about 31 percent in 2024 to roughly 29 percent in 2025 — and assessing that Uzbekistan faces a low risk of debt distress. IMF staff credited the improvement to strong nominal GDP growth, favorable terms of trade and robust investment inflows, while still urging authorities to contain fiscal demand pressures and continue building fiscal buffers.
Credit rating agencies have moved in the same direction: Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on Uzbekistan to positive from stable earlier this year, while Moody's upgraded the country's sovereign credit rating a notch to Ba2, still two notches below investment grade, citing structural reforms and an improving economy. The upgrades came against a backdrop of strong growth, with GDP expanding 7.7 percent in 2025 to $147 billion and the government projecting 8.1 percent growth for 2026.
Even so, the IMF has flagged risks tied to Uzbekistan's continued reliance on external borrowing to close its budget gap and finance large state-led infrastructure programs — a dynamic reflected in the ministry's own figures, which show fully half of external debt going toward deficit financing rather than direct investment in productive sectors..
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