Uzbekistan Sees Growth in Public Debt Over the Year

As of April 1, 2025, Uzbekistan’s public debt reached $42.4 billion, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Of this amount, $35.5 billion accounts for external debt, while $6.9 billion is domestic debt, The Caspian Post reports, citing Uzbek media.

Compared to the same period last year, the total public debt increased by $7.1 billion, marking a 20% rise.

To be precise, as of April 1, 2025, Uzbekistan’s public debt stood at $42.431 billion. External debt made up $35.55 billion, and domestic debt accounted for $6.87 billion.

This figure represents a year-on-year increase of $7.082 billion. The debt-to-GDP ratio also rose by 1.8 percentage points - from 31.7% to 33.5%.

For comparison, as of April 1, 2024, public debt amounted to $35.349 billion. Over the span of one year, this figure grew by 20%.

How were the borrowed funds used?

According to the 2024 year-end data, 45% of the total external public debt ($15.291 billion) was allocated to budget support. Another 17% ($5.74 billion) was directed to the fuel and energy sector, 8% ($2.8 billion) to transport and transport infrastructure, and 9% ($2.9 billion) to agriculture and water management.

Who are Uzbekistan’s creditors?

As of January 1, 2025, the distribution of Uzbekistan’s external public debt by creditor is as follows:

• World Bank - $7.6 billion
• Asian Development Bank - $7.4 billion
• International investors (Eurobonds) - $4.1 billion
• Chinese financial institutions - $3.8 billion
• Japanese financial institutions - $2.9 billion
• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - $1.6 billion
• Islamic Development Bank - $944 million
• French financial institutions - $977 million
• Korean financial institutions - $740 million
• International Monetary Fund - $669 million
• German state bank - $415 million
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - $341 million
• Other financial institutions - $1.9 billion

Earlier reports indicated that by the end of 2024, Uzbekistan’s total external debt amounted to $64.1 billion. Of this, $30.2 billion was corporate external debt.

It is worth noting that the cap on external borrowing for 2025 is set at $5.5 billion. Of this, $3 billion will be used to finance the state budget deficit, while the remainder will go toward investment projects.