Uzbekistan Statistical Report 2024

INTRODUCTION

Uzbekistan is one of the Asian countries in the Eurasian Yearbook. It is a unitary, constitutional, presidential republic comprising 12 provinces, one autonomous republic, and one capital city, Tashkent. Uzbekistan is bordered by five countries: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. The country’s official language is Uzbek. 

Uzbekistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM), and the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO). 

Best known in Soviet times for its production of cotton, Uzbekistan has enjoyed robust GDP growth since the mid-2000’s. The official aim is to make the transition to a more market-oriented economy and to become an industrialised, high middle-income country by around 2050. 

Uzbekistan went through its first transfer of power in 27 years after the death of its first president, Islam Karimov, on September 2, 2016. Newly elected President Shavkat Mirziyoyev declared that improvements to the business environment through liberalisation measures in the banking sector, trade, currency conversion, tax administration, and fighting corruption were among top policy priorities. 

Although card usage is widespread, Uzbekistan lags behind other countries in Eurasia in uptake of digital payments, due to poor legacy infrastructure for telecoms and poor internet coverage. However, over the past decade, the adoption of policies geared towards increased digitisation are accelerating digital payment transformation and mobile payment services, as well as cardless payments directly from bank accounts with instant payments. 

Mobile payments in particular are helping Uzbek consumers leapfrog infrastructure issues, although most international digital wallets are not yet available. Domestic schemes such as UzCard, HUMO and bank mobile apps are the predominant ways Uzbeks use mobile payments. 

Uzbekistan is ripe for digitisation, offering significant growth opportunities due to its large population and the low penetration of banking services among retail and SME business customers. In addition, it has a high level of smartphone penetration, which supports wider digital payments uptake.

STATISTICAL KEY FIGURES FOR 2023/24 PROVIDED IN THIS PROFILE:

NEW IN 2024:

• THE FULL IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON DIGITAL PAYMENTS, CARD PAYMENTS, E-COMMERCE AND M-COMMERCE BY MARKET.
  
• REAL-TIME PAYMENTS INFRASTRUCTURE AND GROWTH STATISTICS BY MARKET.
  
• OPEN BANKING INFRASTRUCTURE, API ROLL-OUT, KEY PLAYERS AND KEY INITIATIVES BY MARKET.
  
• CONTACTLESS AND MOBILE PAYMENTS STATISTICS BY MARKET.
  
• CRYPTOCURRENCY, STABLECOIN AND CBDC INITIATIVES BY MARKET.
  
• FULL UPDATE ON BANK CHANNEL DIGITISATION BY MARKET.
  
• FORECASTING COLUMN ADDED FOR ALL THE MAJOR TABLES.
  
• READER-FRIENDLY DESIGN WITH ENHANCED DATA VISUALISATION.
  
• INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS AND BANK DEPLOYMENTS OF EID, BIOMETRICS AND AI.
  
• THE INTEGRATION OF DIGITAL CHALLENGERS AND NEOBANKS INTO THE BANKING INFRASTRUCTURE.

UPDATES FOR 2023-24:

• UPDATED – BANK M&A, RESTRUCTURING AND MARKET POSITIONING.
• CUSTOMER NUMBER KPIS AND ADOPTION OF DIGITAL CHANNEL KPIS.
  
• REAL-TIME PAYMENTS INFRASTRUCTURE AND GROWTH STATISTICS BY MARKET.
  
• OPEN BANKING INFRASTRUCTURE, API ROLL-OUT, KEY PLAYERS AND KEY INITIATIVES BY MARKET.
  
• CONTACTLESS AND MOBILE PAYMENTS STATISTICS BY MARKET.
  
• CRYPTOCURRENCY, STABLECOIN AND CBDC INITIATIVES BY MARKET.
  
• FULL UPDATE ON BANK CHANNEL DIGITISATION BY MARKET.
  
• FORECASTING COLUMN ADDED FOR ALL THE MAJOR TABLES.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Digital product provided in PDF format. You will receive a download link to a zip file containing your files after checkout. 

VERSION

Version 1.1 - last updated 09/05/2024