According to a report issued by the Statistics Agency under the President, Uzbekistan’s GDP experienced a 5.5% growth during the first quarter of 2023.
The 5.5% GDP growth in the first quarter of 2023 significantly exceeded the forecast announced during a presidential meeting in late January. The initial projection suggested a potential drop to 1.5% growth (from 5% to 3.5%) if adequate measures were not implemented, as 3,000 industrial enterprises had failed to generate 7 trillion soums amid power and gas supply disruptions caused by January’s extreme cold weather.
GDP growth deceleration was also indicated by industrial production data. While January-February witnessed a 3.9% decline, the Statistics Agency reported a substantial 4.1% surge in industrial production during March.
A similar trend was observed in the volume of construction work, which totaled 12.9 trillion soums in January-February, an 8.2% decrease compared to the same period last year. Nevertheless, the agency reported a growth in construction work to 27.56 trillion soums (an additional 14.6 trillion) during the first quarter, marking a 4.5% increase compared to January-March 2022.
The volume of services rose by 10.9% (+15.9% in January-March last year), agriculture and fish industry by 3.2% (2.8%) and retail trade turnover by 5.2% (10.8%).
During the initial three months, foreign trade turnover experienced an 11.9% increase, with imports surging by 23.4%, though exports witnessed a 2.6% decline.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has forecasted an economic growth rate of 4.5−5% for 2023.
