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Uzbekistan · Economy & banking

Uzbekistan's economy and banks, read for founders

The country's own numbers, from the World Bank and the Central Bank. The colour tells you which way each one points before you read a word: green comfortable, amber worth watching, red a real constraint on what you can do here.

Economy: 2025, World BankBanks: 1 July 2026, Central Bank1 USD = 12,009.27 UZS34 licensed banks
GDP
$147.0bn
2025, current prices
7.7% real growth

The fastest year since 2021, and the third acceleration in a row.

GDP per person
$3,968
$13,601 at purchasing power
18.9% in a year

A consumer market that is getting materially richer, fast.

Population
37.05m
31.3% under fifteen · 14.6m working
1.9% a year

Still growing, and young enough to keep growing for decades.

Inflation
8.8%
consumer prices, 2025
down from 9.6%

Falling, but price your local costs to rise by high single digits.

Foreign direct investment
$4.40bn
net inflows, 2025
48% on the year

A record in the series. Other foreign companies are already coming.

Bank credit
31.2% of GDP
private sector, 2025
Flat for three years

The economy grew; lending to it did not. This is the constraint.

Colour shows the direction a number points for a company operating here — against the regulator’s floor where there is one, otherwise against a year earlier.

The economy you would be joining

A $147 billion economy growing at 7.7%, and barely banked

Uzbekistan grew 7.7% in 2025 — its fastest year since 2021 — with 37 million people, a third of them under fifteen. Bank credit is worth 31% of GDP. The financial system is the part of this economy that has not caught up, and that shapes everything below.

The economy, 2010 to 2025

GDP, US$ bnReal growth, %
0$40$80$120$1600%5%10%the sum was floated2010: GDP $55.5 bn, real growth 7.6%2011: GDP $67.4 bn, real growth 8.1%2012: GDP $75.3 bn, real growth 7.4%2013: GDP $82.7 bn, real growth 7.9%2014: GDP $91.3 bn, real growth 7.7%2015: GDP $97.6 bn, real growth 7.9%2016: GDP $97.9 bn, real growth 6.7%2017: GDP $72.3 bn, real growth 4.7%2018: GDP $61.3 bn, real growth 5.7%2019: GDP $70.2 bn, real growth 6.8%2020: GDP $70.1 bn, real growth 1.6%2021: GDP $81.2 bn, real growth 8.2%2022: GDP $94.3 bn, real growth 6.1%2023: GDP $107.5 bn, real growth 6.3%2024: GDP $121.4 bn, real growth 6.7%2025: GDP $147.0 bn, real growth 7.7%2010201520202025

Dollar GDP fell in 2017 and 2018 while the economy grew 4.7% and 5.7%: the sum was floated in September 2017, which repriced the same output in dollars. Source: World Bank · data.worldbank.org/country/uzbekistan

Bank credit to the private sector, % of GDP

0%10%20%30%2013: 8.3% of GDP20132014: 8.9% of GDP20142015: 9.1% of GDP20152016: 10.3% of GDP20162017: 13.6% of GDP20172018: 19.6% of GDP20182019: 24.8% of GDP20192020: 30.5% of GDP20202021: 30.5% of GDP20212022: 31.3% of GDP20222023: 32.8% of GDP20232024: 31.5% of GDP20242025: 31.2% of GDP2025

From 8.3% in 2013 to 31.2% in 2025 — and flat for three years while the economy grew. Source: World Bank · data.worldbank.org/indicator/FS.AST.PRVT.GD.ZS

What this means for your business

The market is here. The financing is not.

An economy compounding at 7% with 37 million people is a real customer base, and foreign direct investment hit a record $4.40 billion in 2025 — you would not be early. But bank credit has been stuck at about 31% of GDP for three years, and the average lending rate was 23.1%. Plan the business on your own capital and on customers, not on an Uzbek bank.

Against the neighbours and the big emerging markets

Faster than India or China, and it has been for a decade

Uzbekistan grew 7.7% in 2025 — fourth of the twelve countries below, behind Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Vietnam. The steadier number is the eleven-year one: it averaged 6.2% a year from 2015, ahead of India and China and more than double the world.

Real GDP growth in 2025, %

UzbekistanOther countriesAverages
0%3%6%9%12%Kyrgyz Republic: 11.1% in 2025, 5.5% average 2015–2025Kyrgyz Republic11.1%Tajikistan: 8.4% in 2025, 7.5% average 2015–2025Tajikistan8.4%Vietnam: 8.0% in 2025, 6.3% average 2015–2025Vietnam8.0%Uzbekistan: 7.7% in 2025, 6.2% average 2015–2025Uzbekistan7.7%India: 7.6% in 2025, 6.1% average 2015–2025India7.6%Georgia: 7.5% in 2025, 5.8% average 2015–2025Georgia7.5%Armenia: 7.2% in 2025, 5.1% average 2015–2025Armenia7.2%Kazakhstan: 6.5% in 2025, 3.3% average 2015–2025Kazakhstan6.5%Lower-middle-income average: 6.0% in 2025, 4.5% average 2015–2025Lower-middle-income average6.0%Indonesia: 5.1% in 2025, 4.3% average 2015–2025Indonesia5.1%China: 5.0% in 2025, 5.7% average 2015–2025China5.0%Türkiye: 3.6% in 2025, 4.8% average 2015–2025Türkiye3.6%World average: 2.9% in 2025, 2.8% average 2015–2025World average2.9%Russia: 1.0% in 2025, 1.5% average 2015–2025Russia1.0%
average 2015–2025

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan grow fastest from much smaller bases; Kyrgyzstan's own eleven-year average is 5.5%. Source: World Bank · data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG

What this means for your business

Fast growth over shallow banking is why the opening is still there.

Uzbekistan has compounded at 6.2% a year for a decade — ahead of India and China — while bank credit stayed at about a third of GDP. Demand has been running ahead of the local capacity to finance it, which is the gap a company arriving with its own capital walks into. It is also the reason to arrive with it.

Now the banks

The system that would hold your company's money

Thirty-four licensed commercial banks holding $83.75 billion — about 57% of last year's GDP. Everything from here is the Central Bank's own reporting, at 1 July 2026.

Total assets
$83.75bn
1,005,803 bn UZS
18.0% on the year

The whole system is about the size of one mid-tier European bank.

Customer deposits
$39.45bn
473,764 bn UZS
33.2% on the year

Deposits are arriving faster than anything else on this page.

Loans outstanding
$53.53bn
642,810 bn UZS
11.7% on the year

Credit is growing at a third of the pace of deposits.

Bad loans
3.57%
of the loan book · $1.91 bn
Under the 5% line

Seven of the 34 banks are above 5%; one is above 10%.

Policy rate
14.0%
unchanged since March 2025
Borrowing is expensive

Commercial lending sits well above this. Fund from the shareholder.

Held in foreign currency
34.7% of assets
was 40.0% a year ago
Down 5.3 points

Less of the system moves when the sum moves.

Growth rates

Deposits are growing three times faster than loans

Money is arriving at the banks faster than it leaves as credit. That is why a foreign-owned company can place deposits easily here and cannot borrow easily — the banks are funding-rich and lending-cautious.

Change over twelve months

Banking sectorMoney supply
+0%+25%+50%+75%Net profit, first half: +68.9% — 10,992.69 bn UZS in the first half of 2026Net profit, first half+68.9%Broad money (M2): +37.6% — 315,718 to 434,511 bn UZS, Aug 2025 to Aug 2026Broad money (M2)+37.6%Customer deposits: +33.2% — 355,621 to 473,764 bn UZSCustomer deposits+33.2%Sector capital: +18.8% — 125,285 to 148,885 bn UZSSector capital+18.8%Total assets: +18.0% — 852,195 to 1,005,803 bn UZSTotal assets+18.0%Loans outstanding: +11.7% — 575,245 to 642,810 bn UZSLoans outstanding+11.7%

Growth is nominal, in UZS. Bank aggregates to 1 July 2026; money supply to August 2026. Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan · cbu.uz/ru/statistics/bankstats

Broad money since 2013, billions of UZS

M2
100k250k400k2013-022026-08

The step in 2017 is the year Uzbekistan floated the sum. 163 consecutive months. Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan · cbu.uz/ru/statistics/monetary-aggregates

What this means for your business

Fund the company yourself. Do not plan on Uzbek credit.

Deposits are arriving three times faster than loans go out, and the policy rate has been 14% since March 2025. Budget your first two or three years of working capital as share capital or a shareholder loan, and treat any local facility as upside rather than as the plan.

Can the banks take a hit

Every liquidity buffer is above its floor, and every one rose

These are the ratios that decide whether your money is available on the day you ask for it. The Central Bank sets a minimum for the first three and publishes it.

Liquidity

Liquidity coverage ratio243%2.4x the floor
min 100%
Cash to survive 30 days of outflows
Net stable funding ratio138%1.4x the floor
min 100%
Long-term funding against long-term lending
Instant liquidity158%6.3x the floor
min 25%
What can be paid out today
Highly liquid assets22%up from 18%
$18.12 bn of the system held in cash and equivalents
Central Bank minimuma year earlier

Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan · cbu.uz/ru/statistics/bankstats

Capital and earnings

Capital adequacy18%up from 17%
Losses the system could absorb before depositors do
Tier 1 capital15%unchanged
The hardest form of that capital
Return on capital15.5%up from 10.8%
Profitable banks recapitalise themselves
Bad loans3.57%under 5%
$1.91 bn of a $53.53 bn loan book
a year earlier

Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan · cbu.uz/ru/statistics/bankstats

What this means for your business

Your money will be there on the day you ask for it.

That is what these buffers buy: the sector holds two and a half times the cash the regulator requires to survive a month of withdrawals, and every ratio improved on the year. It is a statement about the system, not about the bank you pick — so read your bank's own row in the table below, and keep the payroll account and the reserve apart.

The currency

The sum got stronger against the dollar

It appreciated 5.0% over the year, 12,439 to 11,813. If you fund an Uzbek company in dollars and spend in sum, that has cost you about 5% of your budget. If you earn here and repatriate, it has paid you the same.

Official UZS per 1 USD, daily

Official rate
11,80012,10012,4002025-09-092026-09-09

A falling line means the sum is buying more dollars. 248 published business days. Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan · cbu.uz/ru/arkhiv-kursov-valyut

How much of the system is held in foreign currency

Assets in foreign currency34.7%down from 40.0%
Loans in foreign currency39.2%down from 41.5%
Deposits in foreign currency19.1%down from 23.6%
a year earlier

Falling means less of the system moves when the sum moves. Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan · cbu.uz/ru/statistics/bankstats

What this means for your business

A strong sum makes your Uzbek costs dearer in dollars, not cheaper.

A dollar-funded company paid about 5% more this year to run the same local payroll. What has been holding the sum up is money coming home: remittances brought in $21.0 billion in 2025, 14.3% of GDP and nearly five times what foreign direct investment did. Set the budget in sum, convert on a schedule rather than when the money is needed, and hold the balance in the currency you actually spend.

Where you would open an account

Nine state banks hold two thirds of the system

All 34 licensed commercial banks, ordered by size. Two licences were revoked in the past year — Yangi Bank and Eurasian Bank — so 36 became 34. Ownership tells you about the balance sheet, not about the service: competition between Uzbek banks is fierce, and state banks often move quickly.

Total assets, 1 July 2026

State shareholdingOther banks
Uznatsbank (NBU) — state shareholding: assets $12.20 bn, bad loans 2.99%Uznatsbank (NBU)$12.2bnAgrobank — state shareholding: assets $9.86 bn, bad loans 3.50%Agrobank$9.9bnUzpromstroybank (SQB) — state shareholding: assets $9.04 bn, bad loans 3.26%Uzpromstroybank (SQB)$9.0bnKapitalbank — other bank: assets $5.22 bn, bad loans 2.14%Kapitalbank$5.2bnAsaka Bank — state shareholding: assets $5.20 bn, bad loans 4.64%Asaka Bank$5.2bnXalq Banki — state shareholding: assets $4.81 bn, bad loans 4.10%Xalq Banki$4.8bnIpoteka Bank — other bank: assets $4.72 bn, bad loans 3.02%Ipoteka Bank$4.7bnHamkorbank — other bank: assets $3.44 bn, bad loans 1.19%Hamkorbank$3.4bnBusiness Development Bank — state shareholding: assets $3.43 bn, bad loans 5.77%Business Development Bank$3.4bnAloqabank — state shareholding: assets $3.05 bn, bad loans 3.61%Aloqabank$3.1bnMikrokreditbank — state shareholding: assets $2.87 bn, bad loans 7.86%Mikrokreditbank$2.9bnIpak Yuli Bank — other bank: assets $2.74 bn, bad loans 2.16%Ipak Yuli Bank$2.7bnTuronbank — state shareholding: assets $1.83 bn, bad loans 3.96%Turonbank$1.8bnAnorbank — other bank: assets $1.56 bn, bad loans 7.42%Anorbank$1.6bnOrient Finans Bank — other bank: assets $1.52 bn, bad loans 1.70%Orient Finans Bank$1.5bnTrustbank — other bank: assets $1.48 bn, bad loans 3.53%Trustbank$1.5bnOktobank — other bank: assets $1.38 bn, bad loans 0.00%Oktobank$1.4bnInFinBank — other bank: assets $1.34 bn, bad loans 2.43%InFinBank$1.3bnTBC Bank — other bank: assets $1.15 bn, bad loans 12.12%TBC Bank$1.2bnDavr Bank — other bank: assets $1.10 bn, bad loans 3.10%Davr Bank$1.1bnKDB Bank Uzbekistan — other bank: assets $1.07 bn, bad loans 0.00%KDB Bank Uzbekistan$1.1bnAsia Alliance Bank — other bank: assets $0.86 bn, bad loans 1.22%Asia Alliance Bank$0.9bnTengeBank — other bank: assets $0.75 bn, bad loans 4.18%TengeBank$0.7bnHayot Bank — other bank: assets $0.71 bn, bad loans 2.68%Hayot Bank$0.7bnApex Bank — other bank: assets $0.45 bn, bad loans 0.04%Apex Bank$0.4bnUniversal Bank — other bank: assets $0.43 bn, bad loans 2.07%Universal Bank$0.4bnGarant Bank — other bank: assets $0.40 bn, bad loans 6.70%Garant Bank$0.4bnZiraat Bank — other bank: assets $0.33 bn, bad loans 2.96%Ziraat Bank$0.3bnUzum Bank — other bank: assets $0.32 bn, bad loans 0.01%Uzum Bank$0.3bnAVO Bank — other bank: assets $0.15 bn, bad loans 6.80%AVO Bank$0.2bnOpen Bank — other bank: assets $0.13 bn, bad loans 0.35%Open Bank$0.1bnMadad Invest Bank — other bank: assets $0.09 bn, bad loans 4.41%Madad Invest Bank$0.1bnPoytaxt Bank — other bank: assets $0.08 bn, bad loans 7.32%Poytaxt Bank$0.1bnSaderat Bank — other bank: assets $0.05 bn, bad loans 4.74%Saderat Bank$0.1bn

Ordered by size. Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan · cbu.uz/ru/statistics/bankstats

Every licensed bank, 1 July 2026

BankAssets, bn UZSAssets, $mLoansDepositsCapitalBad loans
Uznatsbank (NBU)State146,543.612,203107,128.257,938.120,836.62.99%
AgrobankState118,431.99,86291,210.043,265.613,871.13.50%
Uzpromstroybank (SQB)State108,534.69,03860,989.338,187.812,952.03.26%
KapitalbankOther62,734.85,22438,344.047,329.57,864.42.14%
Asaka BankState62,466.95,20240,426.621,461.39,505.44.64%
Xalq BankiState57,767.74,81037,397.030,715.411,274.24.10%
Ipoteka BankOther56,735.74,72436,253.328,835.19,524.83.02%
HamkorbankOther41,314.83,44029,482.616,821.17,674.71.19%
Business Development BankState41,158.83,42725,776.616,380.35,490.45.77%
AloqabankState36,668.23,05321,649.816,992.64,942.63.61%
MikrokreditbankState34,407.62,86522,840.312,120.45,815.77.86%
Ipak Yuli BankOther32,856.22,73618,750.516,713.14,906.22.16%
TuronbankState21,951.31,82814,841.59,261.72,114.13.96%
AnorbankOther18,738.51,56012,142.415,559.21,488.37.42%
Orient Finans BankOther18,203.31,51613,148.411,588.84,499.11.70%
TrustbankOther17,735.71,4778,692.312,091.73,976.83.53%
OktobankOther16,521.61,376609.614,805.31,202.00.00%
InFinBankOther16,115.71,34211,275.211,788.52,173.82.43%
TBC BankOther13,825.81,1518,322.57,184.53,031.712.12%
Davr BankOther13,194.51,0999,335.24,895.32,394.83.10%
KDB Bank UzbekistanOther12,862.41,0714,320.96,683.32,864.70.00%
Asia Alliance BankOther10,350.28625,295.67,383.41,294.41.22%
TengeBankOther8,970.27474,270.63,834.21,380.84.18%
Hayot BankOther8,485.37076,820.17,283.0692.22.68%
Apex BankOther5,393.24493,263.53,456.0715.10.04%
Universal BankOther5,113.24262,370.93,236.9895.42.07%
Garant BankOther4,776.43981,668.43,308.3580.66.70%
Ziraat BankOther4,006.83342,443.22,089.8798.12.96%
Uzum BankOther3,848.2320298.21,267.51,389.70.01%
AVO BankOther1,831.91531,374.7720.1547.36.80%
Open BankOther1,561.1130971.4108.0514.50.35%
Madad Invest BankOther1,054.088582.8219.1531.74.41%
Poytaxt BankOther1,018.885504.9180.9581.27.32%
Saderat BankOther623.8528.858.0560.24.74%
Bad loans:under 5%5–10%over 10%

All columns in billions of UZS except where stated. Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan · cbu.uz/ru/statistics/bankstats

Contact details, licence numbers, registered addresses and branch networks for each of these banks are on the bank directory.

What this means for your business

Choose the bank that will open the account, not the biggest one.

Nine state banks hold 62% of the system, but ownership is a poor guide to how your application will be handled — competition here is fierce and the state banks frequently do a good job. Which one moves fastest on a foreign-owned file is genuinely unpredictable, so shortlist on what this table shows — size, deposit base and bad loans — and apply to more than one at the same time.

The short answer

An economy to sell into, a system to bank in — not one to borrow from

Uzbekistan is compounding at around 7% a year with 37 million people, and its banks are liquid, better capitalised than a year ago and taking deposits faster than they can lend them. For a foreign-owned company that means the market is real, the account works and the credit line does not — bring your own working capital, keep your costs in the currency you hold, and choose the bank on its willingness to onboard you rather than on its size.

Setting up a company in Uzbekistan?

Remote incorporation of a foreign-owned Uzbek LLC, with the accounting and tax that follow. Published prices, no travel.

Price your setup