The average monthly pension in Uzbekistan has nearly tripled over the past decade, according to new data released by the National Statistics Committee, with real, inflation-adjusted incomes for retirees also showing meaningful gains.
The committee reported that the average pension reached 1.6 million soums in 2025, up 3.3 times in nominal terms from 494,200 soums in 2016. The figures were published via the committee's official Telegram channel.
The analysis found that 494,200 soums in December 2016 would be equivalent to roughly 1.36 million soums in December 2025, based on the cost of a standard consumer basket.
That inflation-adjusted benchmark falls about 21 percent short of the actual average pension reported for 2025 — 1,649,200 soums — suggesting that retirees in Uzbekistan have seen real gains in living standards over the decade, not just nominal increases that were offset by inflation.
The data show steady year-on-year growth throughout the period, with pensions rising from 556,800 soums in 2017 to 640,500 soums in 2018, and continuing upward through the pandemic years and beyond: 733,200 soums in 2019, 848,500 soums in 2020, and 963,600 soums in 2021. The pace of growth accelerated in the years that followed, with pensions climbing past the 1-million-soums mark in 2022 to reach 1,080,800 soums, then rising to 1,234,500 soums in 2023 and 1,495,600 soums in 2024 before hitting last year's figure.
The pension increases have coincided with a broader push by the Uzbek government to expand social spending as part of wider economic reforms launched under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, though the Statistics Committee's release did not break down the specific policy drivers behind the year-on-year increases.
The full breakdown of average monthly pensions by year is as follows:
- 2016 — 494,200 soums;
- 2017 — 556,800 soums;
- 2018 — 640,500 soums;
- 2019 — 733,200 soums;
- 2020 — 848,500 soums;
- 2021 — 963,600 soums;
- 2022 — 1,080,800 soums;
- 2023 — 1,234,500 soums;
- 2024 — 1,495,600 soums;
- 2025 — 1,649,200 soums.
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