Decline in Gold Sales, Spike in Gas Imports
The Statistics Agency of Uzbekistan has recently provided data on the foreign trade turnover of the country from January to May 2024. The report indicates that during this period, Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover reached $26.7 billion, with exports amounting to $10.8 billion and imports totaling $15.8 billion. Compared to the same period in the previous year, exports increased by 1.9% and imports by 3.7%, resulting in a negative trade balance of $5 billion.
China maintained its position as Uzbekistan’s largest trading partner, with mutual trade reaching $5 billion, accounting for 18.9% of the country’s total foreign trade turnover. Other significant trading partners included Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and South Korea.
The top 10 countries with the highest share in Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover during this period were China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, South Korea, France, Turkmenistan, Germany, the USA, and Afghanistan. While a positive trade balance was observed with five countries, a negative trade balance persisted with the remaining 15 countries.
Notably, the volume of exports to Russia, France, Afghanistan, and the USA significantly increased compared to the same period last year. However, the supply of goods to all Central Asian countries decreased, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
In terms of export structure, excluding gold, exports increased by 5.9%, with the share of gold decreasing from 40.3% to 38.6%. The share of industrial products, chemical products, mineral fuels, and machinery and transport equipment all saw increases, while the share of food products and live animals decreased.
On the import side, machinery and transport equipment, industrial goods, and chemical products accounted for the largest share of imports. Overall, the foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan has seen fluctuations in various sectors and relationships with different trading partners during the first five months of 2024.
