According to data from the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover for the period from January to July 2026 amounted to $49.5 billion USD. This figure demonstrated an increase of $3.7 billion, corresponding to an 8.1% rise compared to the same period last year.
The growth in total turnover was driven exclusively by imports. Exports of goods and services decreased by 3.6% to $19.9 billion, while imports increased by 17.8%, reaching $29.6 billion. Consequently, Uzbekistan's external trade deficit expanded to $9.7 billion, up from $4.4 billion the previous year.
Meanwhile, the export of goods, excluding gold, showed significant growth of 27.7%, amounting to $9.8 billion. This indicates that the overall decrease in export figures was mainly due to a reduction in non-monetary gold supplies.
Exports: Growth without gold and acceleration in service sector growth
Goods accounted for 63.2% of the total export volume, equivalent to $12.6 billion, while services provided 36.8% of exports, or $7.3 billion. The export of services grew by 35.3% during the period from January to July 2025. Tourism held the largest share in service exports at 53.8% or $3.9 billion, followed by transport services (31.7% or $2.3 billion). Telecommunication, computer, and information services contributed 8.5% or $622 million, and other business services accounted for 2.9% or $209.5 million.
At the same time, the export of goods fell by 3.6% to $19.9 billion. The main reason for this was the sharp reduction in non-monetary gold supplies, which dropped from $7.6 billion to $2.8 billion, a fall of more than 63%.
If the structure of exports is considered without gold, the picture is different. Industrial goods occupied the largest share at $2.9 billion, an increase of 22.4%. Next are various finished products ($1.7 billion, nearly a 1.9 times increase), chemical products and related goods ($1.6 billion, a 35% increase), as well as food and live animals ($1.5 billion).
Textile exports reached $1.9 billion, an increase of 26.6%, accounting for 9.5% of the total goods export volume. Finished textile products made up 52.2% of textile exports, and yarn accounted for 31.4%. The export included knitted fabrics (9%), fabrics (5%), socks (2%), and carpets (1%).
The total volume of fruit and vegetable exports for the seven-month period was 1,283.9 thousand tons, which is 0.4% or 5.5 thousand tons more in physical terms. However, in value terms, exports decreased by 3.9% to $1.025 billion, accounting for 5.1% of the total export volume. Vegetables contributed the most, increasing exports to 539.6 thousand tons worth $200.5 million. Fruit exports decreased to 251 thousand tons worth $308 million. A decline in supplies of cherries, apricots, and dried grapes was recorded, while exports of grapes, carrots, and garlic increased.
Imports: Machinery, Food, and Fuel
Imports of goods and services reached $29.6 billion in January-July 2026, an increase of 17.8%. Imports of goods increased by $4.1 billion to $26 billion, while imports of services amounted to $3.6 billion, showing a growth of 13.3%.
Machinery and transport equipment remained the largest category of imports, reaching $9.7 billion, or 32.8% of the total import volume, representing an increase of 20%. Within this category, $2.4 billion was spent on automobiles, including $920.4 million on passenger cars, whose imports increased by 1.7 times. Industrial goods accounted for $4.4 billion, or 14.8%, including $1.7 billion for cast iron and steel.
Chemical imports reached $3.6 billion, or 12.1%, including over $1.1 billion for medical and pharmaceutical products. Food imports grew by 41.9% to $3.3 billion, and mineral fuel imports increased by 10.7% to $2.5 billion. In the latter category, gasoline imports rose by 60.8% to $426 million.
Tourism became the largest item of service imports, accounting for 43.6% or $1.6 billion, followed by transport services (27.4% or $989.6 million).
Main Trading Partners
Uzbekistan trades with over 200 countries. China maintained its status as the largest trading partner in terms of total foreign trade turnover, reaching $11.26 billion, which accounts for 22.7% of the total turnover. Russia took second place with $8.13 billion, or 16.4%. Kazakhstan provided $3.27 billion, or 6.6%, Turkey provided $1.65 billion, or 3.3%, and Afghanistan provided $1.23 billion, or 2.5%.
A noticeable growth in trade with Hong Kong was noted, which increased from $85.2 million to $776.8 million, and trade turnover with Kyrgyzstan increased from $505.1 million to $776.7 million.
The main buyers of Uzbek goods and services were Russia, which accounted for 14.2% of total exports, or $2.82 billion; China—8.5%, or $1.7 billion; Afghanistan—5.5%, or $1.09 billion; Kazakhstan—4.4%, or $868 million; and France—4.3%, or $854.9 million. The ten largest buyers accounted for over 50% of the total export volume.
Imports mainly came from China, which accounted for 32.3%, or $9.56 billion, followed by Russia with 17.9%, or $5.3 billion, and Kazakhstan with 8.1%, or $2.4 billion. Turkey and South Korea each accounted for 3.5% of imports, with imports from each country exceeding $1 billion, while Turkmenistan and Germany accounted for 2.2% each.