Economy - overview:
Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country of which 11% consists of
intensely cultivated, irrigated river valleys. More than 60% of its
population lives in densely populated rural communities. Uzbekistan
is now the world's second-largest cotton exporter, a large producer
of gold and oil, and a regionally significant producer of chemicals
and machinery. Following independence in December 1991, the
government sought to prop up its Soviet-style command economy with
subsidies and tight controls on production and prices. Uzbekistan
responded to the negative external conditions generated by the Asian
and Russian financial crises by emphasizing import substitute
industrialization and by tightening export and currency controls
within its already largely closed economy. The government, while
aware of the need to improve the investment climate, sponsors
measures that often increase, not decrease, the government's control
over business decisions. A sharp increase in the inequality of
income distribution has hurt the lower ranks of society since
independence.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $66.06 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4.2% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 36%
industry: 21%
services: 43% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 32.8% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
44.7 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
26% (2001 est.)
Labor force:
11.9 million (1998 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 44%, industry 20%, services 36% (1995)
Unemployment rate:
10% plus another 20% underemployed (1999 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1999 est.)
Industries:
textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural
gas, chemicals
Industrial production growth rate:
3.5% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
44.49 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 88.2%
hydro: 11.8%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
47.07 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
3.998 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
9.7 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
142,700 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
142,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
297 million bbl (37257)
Natural gas - production:
63.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
45.2 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
17.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
937.3 billion cu m (37257)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain; livestock
Exports:
$2.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
cotton 41.5%, gold 9.6%, energy products 9.6%, mineral fertilizers,
ferrous metals, textiles, food products, automobiles (1998 est.)
Exports - partners:
Russia 17.7%, Ukraine 11%, Italy 7.6%, Tajikistan 6.8%, Poland
5.1%, South Korea 5%, Kazakhstan 4.5%, US 4.2% (2002)
Imports:
$2.5 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment 49.8%, foodstuffs 16.4%, chemicals, metals
(1998 est.)
Imports - partners:
Russia 22.6%, Germany 9.8%, South Korea 9.4%, Kazakhstan 8.1%, US
6.9%, Ukraine 6.8%, China 5.2%, Turkey 4.6% (2002)
Debt - external:
$4.6 billion (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
approximately $150 million from the US (2001)
Currency:
Uzbekistani sum (UZS)
Currency code:
UZS
Exchange rates:
Uzbekistani sums per US dollar - 970 (2002), 325 (2001), 236.61
(2000), 124.63 (1999), 94.49 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year