Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In January-April 2023, foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan (FTT) amounted to US$19.6 billion and increased by US$2.3 billion US dollars, or by 13.4%, the Statistic Agency said.

Of the total volume of the FTT, exports amounted to US$7.66 billion (by January-April 2023, an increase of 6.2% was noted), and imports – US$11.92 billion (an increase of 18.6%). As a result, the balance of foreign trade turnover was negative in the amount of minus US$4.25 billion.

To date, the Republic of Uzbekistan has trade relations with 176 countries of the world. The largest volume of foreign trade turnover was recorded with China (17.0%), Russia (15.1%), Kazakhstan (7.7%), Turkiye (5.4%), the Republic of Korea (4.1%), Germany (4.0%) and Kyrgyzstan (1.7%).

In recent years, major changes have taken place in foreign trade relations with neighboring countries such as Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. For example, in 2021-2023, these relations with Tajikistan and Kazakhstan increased by 1.2 times.

Among the 20 largest partner countries in foreign economic activity, three of them have a positive foreign trade balance. These are, in particular, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. With the remaining 17 countries, a negative foreign trade balance remains.

In the structure of foreign trade turnover of the republic, a significant share was noted in the city of Tashkent, which is 39.4%, or US$7.71 billion, and the smallest share is fixed at 0.5%, or US$103.0 million, which is in Surkhandarya region.

The share of foreign trade turnover of the CIS countries in the period under review, compared to the same period in 2022, increased by 0.5% and their share in foreign trade turnover, according to the results of January-April 2023, amounted to 32.7%.

The volume of foreign trade turnover of other states in January-April 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, respectively, decreased by 0.5% and amounted to 67.3% of the total foreign trade turnover.

The foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan with the CIS countries reached US$6.4 billion, of which the volume of exports amounted to US$2.36 billion, and the volume of imports – US$4.03 billion.

The largest volume of foreign trade turnover with the CIS countries was recorded with Russia (46.1%), Kazakhstan (23.5%) and Kyrgyzstan (5.1%).

The foreign trade turnover of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the EAEU countries in the period under review amounted to US$5 billion, of which the volume of exports was US$1.5 billion, the volume of imports was US$3.49 billion.

It should be noted that between the member states of the EAEU (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan) a common economic territory with a single customs system has been formed, which ensures the freedom of movement of goods and services, the movement of migrants and the movement of capital.

The development of international economic relations contributes to the stable growth of exports, and this, in turn, creates the basis for achieving certain results. Based on the reforms carried out aimed at increasing the country’s export potential, government support for exporters and expanding the range of export products, the number of exporters reached 4 573, and the volume of exports of goods and services amounted to US$4.6 billion (in addition to non-monetary gold) and, compared to the same period in 2022, increased by 9.7%.

In the structure of exports, goods occupy 82.4%, of which industrial goods – 17.0%, food products and live animals – 6.2%, various finished products – 4.9%.

The share of exports of the CIS countries in January-April 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, increased by 4.9%.

Our main partners in the export of goods and services in foreign trade turnover in January-April 2023 were such countries as Russia, China, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Their share in total exports reached 38.3%.

In the structure of exports of the republic, a significant share was noted in the city of Tashkent, which is 20.0%, or US$1.53 billion, and the smallest share was recorded at 0.8%, or US$59.8 million in Surkhandarya region.

Due to the fact that the state pays great attention to the development of agriculture and horticulture, the quality and volume of exported products are increasing from year to year. In particular, in January-April 2023, 359.2 thousand tons of fruits and vegetables were exported, and, compared to the same period in 2022, this figure decreased by 1.1 times, or by 44.9 thousand tons.

The main export markets for fruits and vegetables were Russia (27.4%), Pakistan (20.6%), China (16.3%) and Kazakhstan (13.9%).

The volume of exports of fruits and vegetables in the period under review amounted to US$256.1 million (the growth rate, compared to the same period in 2022, amounted to 6.5%, respectively). In the total volume, exports amounted to 3.3%.

According to the results of January-April 2023, the largest volume of exports of fruits and vegetables in value terms falls on Russia (27.4% of the total volume of fruits and vegetables), which exceeds the volume of exports to China by 1.7 times.

In recent years, the light industry has seen the development of high-value-added products. Being an economically important industry for Uzbekistan, the light industry provides a high level of employment, and also contributes to the industrial potential and international prestige of our country.

The increase in textile exports can be seen as a result of reforms aimed at producing finished goods instead of raw cotton and creating added value.

According to the results of January-April 2023, the export of textile products was carried out in the amount of US$997.8 million, which accounted for 13.0% of its total volume and, compared with January-April 2022, it decreased by 7.6%.

In the structure of exports of textile products, the main share is occupied by yarn (42.5%), as well as finished textile products (39.5%). Thus, in January-April 2023, 502 types of textile products were exported to 50 countries of the world.

Based on the ongoing practical work to diversify the textile industry of the republic and encourage the export of finished products, the potential of our country in this area is increasing, as well as its share in the textile market in partner countries.

Thus, the largest share of exports of textile products falls on Russia (35.6% - US$354.9 million) and Turkiye (16.8% - US$167.7 million).

As a result of the widespread use of new production technologies and modern equipment in the country, as well as the introduction of a quality management system, labor productivity is increasing, which, in turn, allows finished products to find their place in world markets.

The volume of exports of services in January-April 2023 amounted to US$1.34 billion, or 17.6% of the total volume of trade exports and increased by 44.5% compared to the same period in 2022. As part of the export of services, the lion’s share is occupied by travel (tourism) (46.2%), transport services (39.3%), telecommunications, computer and information services (6.6%), other business services (4.1%). At the same time, for other services (3.8%), the largest share, respectively, falls on insurance and pension services (1.5%), financial services (1.2%), maintenance and repair services (0.4%) and etc.

During the reporting period, imports amounted to US$11.91 billion (an increase in growth rates, compared to January-April 2022, amounted to 18.6%). The main share in its structure is occupied by machinery and transport equipment (39.7%), industrial goods (15.3%), as well as chemicals and similar products (13.3%).

The analysis of the dynamics of imports of goods also showed that in January-April 2023, compared with the same period in 2022, the volume of imports of goods increased by US$1.87 billion and amounted to US$11.25 billion, and imports of services reached US$660.6 million.

The share of imports from the CIS countries, compared to the same period in 2022, decreased by 2.8% and, according to the results of January-April 2023, it amounted to 33.9%.

In general, according to the results of January-April 2023, goods and services were imported to Uzbekistan from 163 countries. More than 2/3 of imports come from such large partner countries as China, Russia, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Germany, Turkiye and Turkmenistan.

In the structure of imports of the republic, a significant share was noted in the city of Tashkent, which is 51.9%, or US$6.18 billion, and the smallest share was recorded in Surkhandarya – 0.4%, or US$43.2 million.

The volume of imports of services in January-April 2023 amounted to US$660.6 million, or 5.5% of its total volume, and decreased by 0.4% compared to the same period in 2022. As part of the import of services, the main share is occupied by travel (tourism – 50.1%), transport services (22.1%), telecommunications, computer and information services (8.7%), fees for the use of intellectual property (5.4%).

In addition, the share of other services accounted for 13.6% of their total imports, including a high share of other business services (4.6%), maintenance and repair services (3.1%), financial services (2.9 %) and etc.

As the investment climate in the republic improves and on the basis of the reforms carried out in this area, it is natural to increase the import of machinery and equipment.

Thus, according to the results of January-April 2023, the volume of machinery and transport equipment in the structure of imports reached US$4.73 billion and increased by 33.3% compared to the same period in 2022, in general, the share in total imports amounted to 39.7%.

Based on this, the import of machinery and transport equipment increased by US$1.18 billion. Most of the supplies of these goods to the country account for China — US$1.74 billion (36.8%), Germany — US$585.8 million (12.4%) and the Republic of Korea — US$558.5 million (11.8%).

According to the results of January-April 2023, the volume of industrial goods in the structure of imports reached US$1.82 billion and increased by 1.9% compared to the same period in 2022, in general, the share in total imports amounted to 15.3%.

Mainly imports of industrial goods account for cast iron and steel (US$764.5 million), metal products (US$255.4 million), textile yarn, fabrics, finished products (US$188.6 million), rubber products (US$157.4 million), etc.