According to the results of January-September 2020, the foreign trade turnover (FTT) of Uzbekistan reached US$27.49 billion, compared to the same period of last year, decreased by US$3.75 billion.
Of the total volume of the FTT, exports made up US$12.47 billion (by January-September 2019, a decrease of 6.0% was noted), and imports – US$15.02 billion (a decrease of 16.5%). As a result, the balance of foreign trade turnover amounted to a passive balance in the amount of US$2.54 billion.
Nowadays, Uzbekistan carries out trade relations with more than 160 countries of the world. The largest volume of foreign trade turnover was recorded with China (16.8%), the Russian Federation (14.8%), Kazakhstan (7.3%), the Republic of Korea (5.8%), Turkey (5.2%), Kyrgyzstan (2.4%) and Germany (2.1%).
In January-September 2020, the volume of foreign trade turnover made up US$27.49 billion and, compared to the same period in 2019, decreased by 12.0%.
If the first two months were at the level of last year’s indicators, then since March there have been fluctuations characterized by changes in the situation on the world market. The sharp rise in the FTT in July and August was driven by gold exports.
The FTT in September was marked at the level of US$2.95 billion. Compared to the same month last year, the decrease in foreign trade turnover amounted to US$203.6 million.
The necessary resource base has been created in the republic to ensure stable and uninterrupted operation of enterprises and branches of the real economy. As a result of an increase in the production of products that replaced imported goods and the diversification of industrial production, significant changes have been achieved in the structure of exports.
In addition, the strengthening of relations with neighboring states is noted, a lot of work is being done to develop relations in the socio-economic, commercial, industrial and cultural spheres with these countries.
In particular, in recent years there have been significant changes in the FTT with neighboring states, for example, with such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The presence of an active foreign trade balance with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan can be viewed as a positive result in the country’s foreign trade.
Among the 20 large partner countries in foreign economic activity, there is also an active foreign trade balance with four countries, in particular with such countries as Afghanistan (US$539.6 million), Kyrgyzstan (US$461.5 million), Tajikistan (US$219.4 million) and Iran (US$38.3 million). A passive balance of foreign trade turnover remains with the remaining 16 countries.
One third of the FTT volume falls on the CIS countries and, in recent years, this indicator has changed slightly.
Despite the measures taken to strengthen cooperation with the CIS countries and comprehensive support of foreign trade, the share of foreign trade turnover of the CIS countries, compared to the same period in 2019, decreased by 3.6%. For the same period of 2018, a decrease was noted by 8.2% and their share in foreign trade turnover, at the end of January-September 2020, amounted to 30.4%.
The volume of foreign trade turnover of other states in January-September 2020, compared to the same period in 2018-2019, increased accordingly and amounted to 69.6% of the total volume of foreign trade turnover.
In January-September this year, the total number of exporters amounted to 5 389 units and this ensured the increase in the volume of exports excluding special exports to US$6.66 billion (a decrease, compared to the same period in 2019, amounted to 28.2%).
In the structure of exports, 88.1% are goods, which mainly fall on industrial products (16.4%), food products and live animals (7.3%), chemicals and similar products (4.8%).
In January-September 2020, the volume of exports amounted to 12 471.3 million US dollars and, compared to the same period last year, decreased by 6.0%.
The dynamics of the export volume indicates that in the II quarter of 2020 its volume amounted to US$2.91 billion, in the III quarter this indicator increased by US$3.27 billion and amounted to US$6.18 billion. Compared to the second quarter of this year, the increase was recorded more than twofold.
There is a difference in the direction of export of goods and services between the CIS countries and other foreign countries. Thus, 21.8% of exports to the CIS countries are primarily accounted for by the export of industrial goods, then, in terms of volume, there are services and food products, as well as various finished products.
During the reporting period, the fastest growing was the export of beverages, tobacco, non-food raw materials (except for fuel), machinery and transport equipment, various finished products, as well as animal and vegetable oil to the CIS countries, a decrease was primarily noted in the export of mineral fuel, food and chemicals.
Analysis of the structure of exported goods and services in January-September 2020, sent to other countries, showed that, compared with January-September 2019, the volume of exports of mineral fuels, lubricating oils and similar materials, non-food raw materials, food products and living animals as well as services decreased.
Over the past three years, the volume of exports to the CIS countries has decreased and their share in its total volume has decreased from 35.0% to 30.5%. Accordingly, the share in the total export volume of other foreign countries increased from 65.0% to 69.5%.
Compared to January-September 2018-2019, our main partners in the export of goods and services in foreign trade turnover in January-September 2020 were such countries as the PRC (11.0% of total exports), the Russian Federation (8.5%), Turkey (5.2%), Kazakhstan (5.2%), Kyrgyzstan (4.5%), Afghanistan (4.3%) and Tajikistan (2.3%). Their share in the total export volume reached 41.0%.
In January-September 2020, among the seven large partner countries in the export of goods and services, as in the previous year, the PRC retains its leading position. The next position is taken by the Russian Federation. Kazakhstan, slightly yielding in volume to Turkey, dropped from the third position to the fourth. The geography of partner countries for the export of goods and services, compared to the same period in 2019, decreased from 169 to 144 countries.
The largest volume of exported goods among the large partner countries is made up of food products and live animals, industrial goods, as well as nonfood raw materials, except for fuel.
The volume of exports of services in January-September 2020 amounted to US$1.48 billion, or 11.9% of the total trade exports and decreased, compared to the same period of 2019, by 42.6%. Transport services (69.5%), travel (tourism) (14.9%), telecommunications, computer and information services (8.6%) account for the lion’s share of the export of services.
At the same time, other services (7.0%) account for the largest share, respectively, for business (2.9%), construction (2.0%) and financial services (0.9%).
The fruit and vegetable sector in Uzbekistan is an important segment in ensuring the food security of the country and regions. Therefore, in this area, all possible measures are being taken to accelerate the development of the production of fruit and vegetable products, which are yielding results. Thus, the volume of exports of fruits and vegetables made up US$1.09 million tons and, in value terms, exceeded US$696.1 million (the rate of decline, compared to the same period in 2019, was respectively 27.4%). Based on this, 581,500 tons of vegetables were exported in the amount of US$255.4 million, as well as 282,500 tons of fruits and berries in the amount of US$276.3 million (the rate of decline in value , compared to the same period in 2019, respectively amounted to 31.8% and 16.8%).
The main export markets for fruit and vegetable products are in Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan.
Such branches of agriculture as horticulture, horticulture and viticulture developed at an accelerated pace. Thus, in January-September 2020, the share of fruits and vegetables in total exports amounted to 5.6%.
The potential of the sector of production, processing and export of fruit and vegetable products in Uzbekistan today is quite high and this is due not only to the presence of favorable natural and climatic conditions, but also to the accumulation of experience by local producers. In this regard, the government pays significant attention to deepening the industrial processing of agricultural raw materials and the development of storage infrastructure for the grown product. The largest volume in value terms of exports of fruits and vegetables falls on Kazakhstan (28.2% of the total volume of fruits and vegetables), which exceeds the volume of exports to Afghanistan by 6.1 times.
The increase in the volume of exports of textile products can be directly considered as a result of reforms in the production of finished products and the formation of added value instead of the production of raw cotton. For example, at the end of January-September 2020, exports of textile products in the amount of US$1.34 billion were carried out, which amounted to 10.8% of the total export volume and, compared to January-September 2019, it increased by 14.6%
In the structure of export of textile products, the main share is taken by cotton yarn (48.3%), as well as finished knitwear and garments (28.0%). In January-September 2020, more than 455 types of textile products were exported to 60 countries.
As a result of practical work to diversify the textile industry of the republic and stimulate the export of finished products, the potential of our country is increasing.
The largest share of exports of textile products falls on the Russian Federation (US$486.5 million – 36.3%), China (US$277.5 million – 20.7%) and Kyrgyzstan (US$196.5 million – 14.6%).
During the reporting period, imports amounted to US$15.02 billion (a decrease in growth rates, compared to January-September 2019, was 16.5%). The main share in its structure is occupied by machinery and transport equipment (38.6%), industrial goods (17.0%), as well as chemicals and similar products (13.8%).
Analysis of the dynamics of imports of goods and services also showed that in January-September 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, the volume of imports of goods decreased by US$2 billion and amounted to US$14.17 billion and imports of services reached US$841.5 million.
The dynamics of the volume of imports showed that in the II quarter of 2020 its volume reached US$4.8 billion, in the III quarter this figure with a significant increase reached US$5.44 billion. Compared to the II and III quarters of the previous year, the decrease was 19.7% and 18.9%, respectively
An analysis of the structure of imported goods and services in January-September 2020 also showed that, compared to January-September 2019, the share of imports of industrial goods increased from 16.7% to 17.0%, machinery and transport equipment – from 40.7% to 38.6%, non-food raw materials – from 4.4% to 4.0%, respectively.
The analysis of imports of services also showed that in January-September 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, the share in the total volume of imports decreased from 10.0% to 5.6%.
The decrease in the volume of imports of food products and live animals is due to sugar, sugar products and honey (by 8.2%). There is also a decrease in the volume of imports for industrial goods, metal products (by 30.5%), products from non-metallic minerals (by 23.9%). In recent months, the dynamics of the stabilization of the share of imports with the CIS countries and other foreign countries has been noted, which, within the limits, is a ratio of 36.9:63.1.
It should be noted that countries such as the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France and Poland are among the top twenty imports to the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Compared to the same period in 2019, the top six import partner countries have not changed. In general, in January-September 2020, goods and services from 139 countries were imported to the Republic of Uzbekistan. One third of imports (US$10.94 billion) is accounted for by such large partner countries as the PRC (share in total imports 21.6%), the Russian Federation (20.0%), the Republic of Korea (10.4%), Kazakhstan (9.1%), Turkey (5.2%), Germany (3.5%) and the Czech Republic (3.1%).
As the investment climate in the country improves and as a result of reforms implemented in this area, it is natural to increase the import of machinery and transport equipment. Thus, taking into account the large volumes of investments from China, Korea, Russia, Germany and Turkey, a high share of these countries remains in the volume of imports of these products.
The volume of imports of services in January-September 2020 amounted to US$841.2 million, or 5.6% of its total volume and decreased, compared to the same period in 2019, by 53.3%. Travel (tourism – 40.4%), other business services (15.4%) and transport services (14.0%) account for the main share of imports of services. In addition, other services accounted for 30.2% of total imports of services, including a high share in telecommunications, computer and information services (11.3%), fees for the use of intellectual property (7.1%), construction services (5.8%), etc.
At the end of January-September 2020, the volume of imports of building materials in its total volume amounted to 5.7% and reached US$852.4 million. In its structure, the main share is occupied by wood and wood products (48.1%), cement (10.2%), glass and glassware (5.3%), as well as asbestos (2.7%).
In general, the volume of imports of building materials in January-September 2020, compared to 2019, decreased (a decrease of 15.2%).
Based on the foregoing, it should be noted that the growth in imports of building materials, compared with previous years, is directly related to largescale reforms in the field of improvement, in particular, housing construction, reconstruction and improvement of settlements.
The largest volumes of imports of building materials were recorded for wood and wood products. Thus, in January-September 2020, imports for these commodity items reached US$410.0 million (a decrease of 11.6%). The most noticeable decrease was noted for cement, the supply of which decreased by more than 1.6 times – from US$135.0 million in January-September 2019 to US$87.0 million for the reporting period of the current year.
