89% of Foreign Traders in Uzbekistan Are Afghan Nationals, Statistics Committee Reports
Uzbekistan’s Statistics Committee announced that in the first five months of 2026, 89% of the total foreign traders entering the country were Afghan citizens. According to official figures, during this period, 171,732 Afghan nationals entered Uzbekistan for commercial activities.
In total, 191,500 foreign traders visited Uzbekistan over these five months, with Afghans holding the largest share among them. This data reflects a significant increase in trade exchanges between the two countries this year.
Following Afghanistan, the next highest numbers of foreign traders visiting Uzbekistan were from Turkmenistan with 13,999 people, Tajikistan with 3,588, Kyrgyzstan with 590, Kazakhstan with 232, Russia with 179, and Turkey with 160.
Trade relations between Kabul and Tashkent have expanded in recent years. In August 2024, the two countries launched a joint border market on Uzbek soil, allowing Afghan citizens to travel to the area with a passport and without requiring a visa.
Previously, the news website Gazeta reported that since the market’s opening, over one million Afghan citizens and more than 600,000 Uzbek citizens have visited it. However, it remains unclear whether the new figures from Uzbekistan’s Statistics Committee include visitors to this joint border market.
