Uzbekistan will conduct a nationwide business registration drive from October 15 to November 30, 2026, under a proposal approved by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
"The shadow economy currently accounts for 23% of the country's GDP, or 246 trillion soums. In agriculture, this sector accounts for 60% of total turnover.
Of the country's 15.2 million employed people, the incomes of 6.5 million — or 42% — are not fully reflected in official statistics. Many registered small and medium-sized businesses are either not actually operating or have ceased activity altogether.
This creates an unhealthy competitive environment for businesses that operate honestly and fully meet their tax obligations. For every four to five soums of economic turnover, one soum currently falls outside official statistics. Bringing this activity into the formal economy could generate tens of trillions of additional soums in budget revenue and create room to reduce the tax burden going forward.
In light of this, a proposal to conduct a business registration campaign from October 15 to November 30 of this year has been approved," the official statement said.
Officials noted that the registration drive will involve a comprehensive survey of all economic entities operating in the country, clarifying their status, structure, and distribution across economic sectors. Statistical registers of enterprises and organizations will be updated, creating a more reliable foundation for future sample-based economic surveys.
At the same meeting, the president was briefed on the results of this year's national population and agricultural census.
According to preliminary results, Uzbekistan's permanent population stands at 39,047,000. The census also clarified the place of residence and social status of 810,600 people who had not previously been reflected in official records.
Compared with existing data, the census found that the population of Jizzakh province was 2.7% lower than previously recorded, followed by discrepancies of 1.3% in Namangan, 0.9% in Surkhandarya, and 0.7% in Kashkadarya. Bukhara province's population figure remained largely unchanged, while other provinces saw increases. Notably, the population of Tashkent district was found to be 1.6 times higher than previous records indicated, while the population of Andijan city was found to be 15.8% lower.
The agricultural census also clarified the boundaries and classification of 985,500 hectares of land that had not previously been accounted for. Of that total, 789,500 hectares are cropland, 14,100 hectares are greenhouses, 75,300 hectares are orchards, 21,400 hectares are vineyards, and 85,000 hectares are fish farming ponds.
Thanks to the digitalization of the process, the cost of the census came to no more than 1,500 soums per person — 15 times lower than comparable figures in other CIS countries. Some 82.3% of respondents registered online. The entire process was completed within 15 days, placing Uzbekistan second in the world for census speed.
The census results will be used to build continuously updated statistical registers for population and agriculture. A total of 100 socioeconomic development indicators and 50 agricultural and cropland indicators will be updated as a result, while national accounts data for 2017-2025 will also be revised.
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