Uzbekistan's international trade turnover reached $41 billion in the first half of 2026, up 7.4% from the same period last year, according to preliminary data from the State Statistics Committee.
Exports fell 8.8% to $15.86 billion, while imports climbed 21% to $25.15 billion. As a result, the country's trade deficit widened to $9.29 billion, roughly 2.7 times larger than the $3.38 billion deficit recorded a year earlier.
Excluding gold, however, goods exports actually rose 28.7% year-on-year to $8.2 billion.
The sharp overall decline in exports was driven largely by a steep drop in shipments of non-monetary gold. Uzbekistan exported $1.5 billion worth of gold in the first half of the year, down from $6.49 billion during the same period in 2025 — a 4.3-fold decrease.
Gold's share of total exports fell sharply as a result, from 37.3% to 9.5%. That shift reshaped the broader export structure: the share of services rose from 26.3% to 39.1%, industrial goods from 11.3% to 15.2%, chemical products from 5.6% to 8.1%, and various finished goods from 4% to 8.6%.
Exports
Services became Uzbekistan's largest export category in the first half of the year, with their value rising 35.7% from $4.57 billion to $6.2 billion — accounting for 39.1% of total exports.
Within the services category, travel and tourism made up more than half, at 52.9% (roughly $3.3 billion), followed by transport services at 31.6% ($1.96 billion), telecommunications, computer and information services at 8.8% ($545.3 million), and other business services at 3%.
Exports of industrial goods rose 22.8% to $2.41 billion. Within this category, exports of textile yarn, fabric and finished goods reached $975.9 million (up 20.7%), non-ferrous metals reached $882 million (up 12.7%), and non-metallic mineral products reached $175.2 million (up 35.6%).
Imports
Uzbekistan's imports rose 21% in the first half of the year, from $20.78 billion to $25.15 billion. Goods imports grew by roughly $4 billion to reach $22.2 billion, while services imports totaled around $3 billion.
Machinery and transport equipment remained the largest import category, with shipments up 25.1% to $8.25 billion — raising its share of total imports from 31.8% to 32.8%.
Within this category, imports of automobiles and other transport equipment reached $2 billion (up 31.7%). That included a 84.5% jump in passenger car imports, to $778.3 million, and a 12.7% rise in automotive parts and accessories, to $904.3 million.
Imports of electrical machinery and equipment rose 44.4% to $1.38 billion, power-generating machinery imports rose 56% to $839.7 million, and telecommunications equipment imports nearly doubled to $840.9 million.
