According to preliminary data from the National Statistical Committee, Uzbekistan's foreign trade volume for the period from January to September 2026 reached $65.4 billion. This figure exceeds the amount for the same period last year by $3.9 billion, representing a growth of 6.3%. At the same time, exports decreased while imports continued to rise, leading to an almost twofold increase in the trade deficit—from $6.9 billion to $13.7 billion.
The export of goods and services amounted to $25.8 billion, a decrease of 5.5%. Imports, however, increased by 15.7% to reach $39.6 billion. The fall in exports is largely attributed to the reduction in non-monetary gold supplies, which dropped from $9.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025 to $2.8 billion in January–September 2026. However, excluding gold, merchandise exports grew by 31.6% to $13.3 billion.
Goods accounted for 62.4% of Uzbekistan's total exports. Major commodity groups included finished products, other manufactured goods, chemical products, and food products. Exports of finished products increased by 27.6%, reaching $3.8 billion and accounting for 14.7% of the total volume. Supplies of other manufactured goods more than doubled to $2.6 billion, making up 10.2% of exports. Chemical exports rose by 35.1% to $2 billion, while food product exports fell by 3.4% to approximately $2 billion.
Exports of machinery and transport equipment increased by 40.6%, reaching $1.1 billion. Mineral fuel exports grew by 4.4% to $1.2 billion. Within the fuel category, refined petroleum product exports increased by 44.4% to $672.5 million. Meanwhile, gas exports fell by 34.5% to $357.9 million, and electricity exports rose by 26.9% to $145.8 million.
Textile exports increased by 28.1%, totaling $2.4 billion, or 9.3% of the total volume. Finished textile goods constituted 50.8% of textile supplies, and yarn accounted for another 33%. Service exports showed a growth of 31.1%, reaching $9.7 billion, which is 37.6% of the total volume. Tourism services, including tourism, brought in $5.3 billion, or 54.9% of service exports. Transport services provided $2.9 billion, corresponding to 29.7%.
Fruit and vegetable exports amounted to $1.3 billion, which is 10.9% less than last year and accounts for 5% of the total volume. In terms of supply volume, they decreased by 3%, or 48,200 tons, to 1.56 million tons. Fruit exports fell from $489.2 million to $445.2 million; cherry exports decreased from $72.5 million to $59.9 million, and dried grape exports dropped from $92.8 million to $74.2 million. However, vegetable exports rose from $172.1 million to $206.2 million. Onion supplies totaled 317,300 tons valued at $92.4 million.
Russia was the largest export destination for Uzbekistan, receiving goods and services worth $3.5 billion, which accounts for 13.6% of the total export volume. Exports to China reached $2.3 billion, and supplies to Afghanistan amounted to $1.4 billion, corresponding to 8.9% and 5.4% of exports, respectively. Among the ten largest markets were also Hong Kong and Kazakhstan, each receiving $1.2 billion, as well as France, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Hong Kong accounted for 4.6% of exports, Kazakhstan for 4.5%, France for 3.9%, the UAE and Turkey for 3.1% each, Kyrgyzstan for 3%, and Tajikistan for 2.3%. These ten destinations together covered more than half of Uzbekistan's exports.
Merchandise imports increased by $4.8 billion compared to the same period last year, reaching $34.4 billion. Service imports grew by 12.2% to $5.2 billion, accounting for 13% of the total import volume. Machinery and transport equipment became the largest import category, reaching $12.9 billion or 32.5% of the total volume, with imports in this sector increasing by 14.4%. Finished goods imports rose by 4.7% to $5.8 billion, and chemical imports increased by 17%, reaching $4.8 billion.
Food product imports rose by 37.5% to $4.2 billion. Grain imports increased by 59.4% to $1.1 billion, and meat and meat product imports rose by 32.2% to $779.3 million. Mineral fuel imports increased by 21.6% to $3.4 billion. Gas purchases amounted to $1.6 billion, which is 49.9% more than the previous year. Refined petroleum product imports also reached $1.6 billion, an increase of 6%.
In this category, gasoline imports rose by 33.6% to $454 million, while diesel fuel imports decreased by 19.1% to $189.1 million. Imports of motor vehicles and other transport equipment, including spare parts, reached $3.2 billion, which is 26.4% more than in January–September 2025. Passenger car imports increased by 52.5% to $1.2 billion. Purchases of telecommunications, sound recording, and sound reproduction equipment rose by 73.9% to $1.3 billion. Nevertheless, aircraft imports decreased by 33.9% to $271.7 million.
Tourism services accounted for 40.8% of service imports, transport services for 32.5%, other business services for 9.7%, and telecommunication, computer, and information services for 8.3%.
Uzbekistan imports goods and services from over 160 countries. China is the largest supplier, with supplies estimated at $12.9 billion, accounting for 32.5% of the total import volume. Russia supplied $6.9 billion in goods, and Kazakhstan supplied $3.1 billion. Other major suppliers include Turkey, South Korea, Turkmenistan, and Germany, with shares of 3.7%, 3.5%, 2.2%, and 2.1%, respectively. These seven countries together accounted for over 65% of imports.
Uzbekistan maintains trade relations with over 200 countries. China remains its main trading partner in terms of total foreign trade, achieving bilateral trade of $15.2 billion in the first nine months of 2026, which is 23.2% of the total volume. This is 27.6% more than the same period last year. Russia ranks second with a turnover of $10.5 billion, accounting for 16% of the total volume, with bilateral trade growing by 10.5% year-on-year. Trade with Kazakhstan increased by 22.3% to $4.3 billion, or 6.5% of Uzbekistan's total foreign trade. Turkey ranked third with $2.2 billion, or 3.4%, and trade with Afghanistan reached $1.6 billion, accounting for 2.4% of the total volume. The most significant growth in turnover was noted with the UAE and Hong Kong. Trade with the UAE grew from $943.2 million to $1.4 billion. Trade with Hong Kong increased more than elevenfold, from $109.6 million to $1.3 billion.
