The volume of Uzbekistan’s foreign trade in January-July was $28.1 billion. This is 29% more than the same period in 2021, the State Statistics Committee said.

Exports for seven months amounted to $11.27 billion, an increase of 38% compared to last year’s level. At the same time, imports showed an increase of 24% and reached $16.83 billion.

The amount of proceeds from the export of gold has not changed for the fourth month - $2.97 billion. Since March, Uzbekistan has not sold the precious metal abroad.

The deficit of the foreign trade balance since the beginning of the year amounted to $5.56 billion. In relation to the same period last year, it increased by $119 million - for comparison, at the end of June it was $275 million, and in May - $350 million.

China retains the status of the largest trading partner with 18.6% of the total turnover, as well as the main supplier of goods and services ($3.72 billion).

Export

Industrial goods continue to bring the largest share of export earnings - $2.7 billion (+14%). Sales of fabrics, yarn and textile products rose by 23.6%, metal products - by 9.7%.

Next comes food exports with $780.9 million in revenue (+10.9%). Deliveries of dairy products and eggs increased by 61%, while the main item of the food sector - vegetables and fruits - increased by 14%.

Revenue from chemical products rose to $722.5 million (+25.4%). Here, the largest increase is observed, as before, in fertilizers (+99%, to $234 million), and plastics (2.3 times to $27.5 million).

Hydrocarbons and their derivatives brought another $676 million (+74.6%). The export of oil and oil products has doubled, gas – rose by 87%.

Sales of machinery and equipment increased by 24% year-on-year to $479.8 million. Vehicle sales fell 17% year-on-year (to $187 million), but exports of power generators rose almost twenty-fold ($92 million).

Import

Cars remain the largest import item — $5.6 billion (+23.6%). Of these, industrial equipment accounted for almost a quarter ($1.3 billion), another $960 million for other industrial machines.

The volume of purchases of manufactured goods reached $3.18 billion (+28%). Imports of iron and steel are currently the major part of spending ($1.44 billion, +38%), while imports of yarn and fabrics are growing the fastest ($415 million, +39%).

The chemical industry accounted for $2.29 billion (+21.3%), primarily for medicines and polymers. Food imports increased by 41% to $1.83 billion. The increase in costs for fruits and vegetables amounted to 77%, for cereals - 25.5%.

Fuel imports amounted to $824 million (+9.5%). The growth was most noticeable in oil and oil products — 29% ($626 million). On the other hand, gas supplies fell by almost a third ($76 million).