Foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan reached US$13.15 billion in 1Q

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- According to the results of January-March 2022, the foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan reached US$13.15 billion, which increased by US$5.63 billion compared to the same period in 2020 (an increase of 74.8%), the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan said.

Of the total volume of the foreign trade turnover, exports amounted to US$5.77 billion (by January-March 2021, an increase of 38.7% was noted), and imports - US$7.38 billion (an increase of 44.6% ). As a result, the balance of foreign trade turnover amounted to a passive balance in the amount of - US$1.61 billion.

Among the 20 major partner countries in foreign economic activity there is an active foreign trade balance with three countries, in particular with such countries as Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. With the remaining 17 countries, a passive balance of foreign trade turnover is maintained.

The share of foreign trade turnover of the CIS countries in the period under review, compared to the same period in 2021, decreased by 10.2% and their share in foreign trade turnover, according to the results of January-March 2022, amounted to 30.0%.

The volume of foreign trade turnover of other states in January-March 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, increased by 10.2%, respectively, and amounted to 70.0% of the total foreign trade turnover.

The foreign trade turnover of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the EAEU countries amounted to US$3.18 billion. Of these, the volume of exports amounted to US$923.3 million, and the volume of imports - US$2.25 billion.

In the structure of exports, 90.2% is occupied by goods, which are mainly manufactured goods (19.0%), food products and live animals (4.9%), chemicals and similar products (4.3%).

Due to the increase in exports to other foreign countries, the share of exports to the CIS countries decreased, and their share in its total volume amounted to 21.0%.

Compared to 2020-2021, our main partners in the export of goods and services in foreign trade turnover in January-March 2022 were such countries as China, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Their share in total exports reached 36.0%.

In the structure of exports of the republic, a significant share was noted in Tashkent, which is 15.4%, or US$890.7 million, and the smallest share was recorded at the level of 0.9%, or US$53.0 million in Jizzakh region.

The volume of exports of fruits and vegetables in the period under review amounted to 258.6 thousand tons and, in value terms, reached US$168.8 million (the growth rate, compared to the same period in 2021, amounted to 26.4%, respectively).

In January-March 2022, the share of fruits and vegetables in total exports amounted to 2.9%. The main export markets for fruits and vegetables are the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, China and Pakistan.

According to the results of January-March 2022, the largest volume in terms of value of exports of fruits and vegetables falls on the Russian Federation (23.6% of the total volume of fruits and vegetables), which exceeds the volume of exports to China by 1.7 times.

According to the results of January-March 2022, the export of textile products was carried out in the amount of US$764.9 million, which amounted to 13.2% of the total export volume and, compared to January-March 2021, it increased by 20.0% .

In the structure of exports of textile products, the main share is occupied by cotton yarn (55.0%), as well as finished knitwear and garments (22.8%). In January-March 2022, more than 426 types of textile products were exported to 58 countries of the world.

The volume of exports of services in January-March 2022 amounted to US$567.7 million, or 9.8% of the total volume of trade exports and increased by 20.9% compared to the same period in 2021. As part of the export of services, the lion’s share is occupied by transport services (62.1%), travel (tourism) (19.7%), other business services (7.2%), telecommunications, computer and information services (6.9%).

At the same time, other services (4.0%) account for the largest share, respectively, in insurance and pension services (1.4%), financial services (0.8%), construction services (0.7%), etc.

During the reporting period, imports amounted to US$7.38 billion (an increase in growth rates, compared to January-March 2021, amounted to 44.6%). The main share in its structure is occupied by machinery and transport equipment (34.6%), industrial goods (18.4%), as well as chemicals and similar products (13.6%).

An analysis of the dynamics of imports of goods also showed that in January-March 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, the volume of imports of goods increased by US$2.1 billion and amounted to US$6.85 billion, and imports of services reached US$529.7 million.

The share of imports from the CIS countries, compared to the same period in 2021, decreased by 3.0% and their share in foreign trade turnover, in January-March 2022, amounted to 37.1%.

In general, according to the results of January-March 2022, goods and services were imported to the Republic of Uzbekistan from 144 countries. One-third of imports come from such large partner countries as the PRC, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, Germany and Turkmenistan.

The volume of imports of services in January-March 2022 amounted to US$529.7 million, or 7.2% of its total volume and increased by 46.4% compared to the same period in 2021. As part of the import of services, the main share is occupied by travel (tourism - 61.6%), transport services (13.3%), other business services (8.7%), telecommunications, computer and information services (5.7%).

In addition, other services accounted for 10.7% of total imports of services, including a high share of fees for the use of intellectual property (3.9%), construction services (2.5%), maintenance and repair services (2 .3%), etc.

According to the results of January-March 2022, in the structure of imports, the volume of machinery and transport equipment reached US$2.55 billion and increased by 63.6% compared to the same period in 2021, in general, the share in the total volume of imports amounted to 34.6%.

Imports of machinery and transport equipment increased by US$993.4 million. Most of the supply of these goods to the country falls on the PRC - US$994.9 million (38.9%), the Republic of Korea - US$403.0 million (15.8%) and Germany - US$284.8 million (11.1%).

According to the results of January-March 2022, in the structure of imports, the volume of industrial goods reached US$1.36 billion and increased by 51.1% compared to the same period in 2021; in general, the share in the total volume of imports amounted to 18.4%.

Mostly, imports of industrial goods fall on cast iron and steel (US$592.3 million), metal products (US$193.3 million), textile yarn, fabrics, finished products (US$134.3 million), products made of cork and wood (US$101.8 million), etc.