According to the State Statistics Committee, Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover in January-March 2026 amounted to $18 billion, increasing by $471 million or 2.7% compared to the same period last year.

However, export volume decreased by 29.3% to $5.8 billion. This decline is mainly due to the suspension of gold exports since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter of last year, gold worth $3.6 billion was sold, while this year no gold exports were recorded.

Against the backdrop of halted gold exports, the negative trade balance increased nearly sixfold — from $1.1 billion to $6.4 billion. Imports grew by 30.8% to $12.2 billion.

The largest shares in foreign trade turnover were accounted for by China (25.6%), Russia (18.2%), Kazakhstan (7.2%), Turkey (3.6%), and Afghanistan (2.8%). Trade with China grew by 53.2%, with Russia by 23.2%.

In the export structure, goods accounted for 59.9%, with industrial goods (17.8%), chemicals (10.6%), food and live animals (9.2%) leading. Energy exports decreased by 5.6% to $243.8 million. Natural gas exports sharply declined to just $36.7 million for the quarter (down 61%).

Service exports reached $2.3 billion, up 26.8%. Tourism services accounted for 48.0%, transport 35.5%, and telecommunications and IT services 10.3%.

In imports, China (32.5%) and Russia (18.3%) dominated, followed by Kazakhstan (8.4%), South Korea (3.7%), and Turkey (3.5%). Machinery and transport equipment (33.8%), industrial goods (13.9%), and chemicals (12.0%) were the main import categories.

In March, Uzbekistan sharply increased gold imports — a total of $177.9 million worth of gold was imported in the quarter (2.3 times more). Energy imports rose by 64.4% to $1.8 billion, and gas imports doubled to $360.5 million.

Service imports amounted to $1.2 billion, up 17.9%. Travel (49.8%), transport services (19.8%), and telecommunications services (12.4%) were the leading categories.

Source: www.gazeta.uz