Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — In 2024, the residents of Uzbekistan spent over 19.7 trillion soums on pharmaceutical products, according to the Tax Committee.

Of this total, more than 15.7 trillion soums were spent on imported medicines, while nearly 4 trillion soums were allocated for domestically produced drugs.

Across the country, there are 8,575 pharmacies, which are equipped with approximately 16,000 online cash registers (KKM). Fiscal receipts are issued to customers, containing the product and service identification code (IKPU), which are used for tracking the population’s spending on medications.

Tashkent led the way in sales, accounting for 5 trillion soums, a figure the Tax Committee attributes to the presence of major medical institutions in the capital.

The second and third places were occupied by Samarkand (2.6 trillion soums) and Fergana (1.5 trillion soums) regions. The lowest spending was recorded in Jizzakh (536 billion soums), Navoi (490 billion soums), and Syrdarya (442.5 billion soums) regions.

Average spending on medicines also varies significantly by region. In Tashkent, the average expenditure per person was 1.7 million soums, more than twice as high as in Bukhara (746,000 soums) and Samarkand (660,700 soums), which ranked second and third for this metric.

The lowest spending was recorded in Karakalpakstan (308,900 soums), Kashkadarya (302,300 soums), and Surkhandarya (289,500 soums) regions.

According to the Tax Committee, the most in-demand medicines are for treating cardiovascular and infectious diseases, as well as painkillers. Following these are medications for the treatment of nervous system disorders and gastrointestinal diseases.