Uzbekistan sold gold worth $6.9 billion, deficit in foreign trade reached $10 billion

Top 10 countries with the highest share in foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan in January-October 2023:

• China – $10.8 billion;
• Russia – $7.9 billion;
• Kazakhstan – $3.6 billion;
• Turkey – $2.6 billion;
• Korea – $1.87 billion;
• Turkmenistan – $939 million;
• Germany – $876 million;
• Kyrgyzstan – $814 million;
• France – $773 million;
• Afghanistan – $693 million.

Out of the 20 major partner countries in terms of foreign economic activity, only three countries – Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - have a positive foreign trade balance. A passive foreign trade balance with the remaining 17 countries has been maintained.

In the 10 months of 2023, the volume of exports to China decreased by 12.5%, and sales to Turkey decreased by 21%. In turn, the volume of exports to Russia increased by 5% and to Kazakhstan by 2%.

Also, the volume of imports from China increased by 65%, from Russia by 6%, and from Turkey by 7%. The volume of imports from Kazakhstan (6 percent) and Korea (5 percent) decreased.

The share of the CIS countries in the total foreign trade turnover is decreasing. In particular, this indicator was 39.8% in 2022, and decreased to 32.9% this year.

Export of gold

Gold worth $6.87 billion was sold in January-October of this year. This is 33.6% of total exports.

In turn, gold exports increased by 2.3 times compared to the corresponding period of 2022.

For information, $4.1 billion worth of gold was sold in 2022, $4.1 billion in 2021, $5.8 billion in 2020, and $4.9 billion in 2019.

Export and import of fuel products

During the reporting period, Uzbekistan imported $561 million worth of gas, which is 2.1 times more than in the corresponding period of 2022. In turn, during this period, gas export decreased by 47.9% or $458 million.

It also imported $161 million worth of coal during the 10-month period, which is 73.2% more than the same period last year.

In January-October, electricity worth $102.4 million was purchased (decrease – 2.3%) and electricity worth $50.3 million was exported (decrease – 43.7%).

Export of oil and oil products increased by 2.1 times to $259 million, and import increased by 25.6% to $1.24 billion.