Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover decreases by 23.8%
19/03/2021 20:52
Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover decreases by 23.8%
19/03/2021 20:52
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At the end of January-February 2021, Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover (FTT) reached US$4.52 billion, which, compared to the same period in 2020, decreased by US$1.41 billion (a 23.8% decrease), the Uzbek State Statistics Committee said.
Of the total volume of the FTT, exports amounted to US$1.49 billion (a 43.2% decrease was noted against January-February 2020), and imports – US$3.02 billion (a decrease of 8.3%). As a result, the balance of foreign trade turnover amounted to a passive balance in the amount of US$1.53 billion.
Among the 20 large partner countries in foreign economic activity, there is also an active foreign trade balance with six countries, in particular with such countries as Afghanistan (US$107.3 million), Kyrgyzstan (US$64.0 million), Tajikistan (US$45.7 million), Canada (US$41.9 million), Turkey (US$26.1 million) and Iran (US$6.9 million). The remaining 14 countries maintain a passive balance of foreign trade turnover.
Nowadays, Uzbekistan carries out trade relations with almost 119 countries of the world. The largest volume of foreign trade turnover was recorded with the PRC (20.1%), the Russian Federation (18.7%), Kazakhstan (13.0%), Turkey (8.9%), the Republic of Korea (3.9%), Kyrgyzstan (2.6%) and Afghanistan (2.4%).
In the structure of the republic’s foreign trade turnover, a significant share is noted in the city of Tashkent, which is 42.2%, or US$1.91 billion. In this structure, the smallest share was recorded at the level of 1.1%, or US$50.7 million, which is marked in Kashkadarya region.
One third of the FTT volume falls on the CIS countries and, in recent years, this indicator has changed significantly. The share of foreign trade turnover of the CIS countries, compared to the same period in 2020, increased by 9.5%. For the same period of 2019, an increase was noted by 10.9% and their share in foreign trade turnover, at the end of January-February 2021, amounted to 41.6%.
The volume of foreign trade turnover of other states in January-February 2021, compared to the same period in 2019-2020, accordingly decreased and amounted to 58.4% of the total foreign trade turnover.
The foreign trade turnover of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the CIS countries reached US$1.88 billion. Of these, the volume of exports amounted to US$601.1 million, and the volume of imports - US$1.28 billion.
The largest volume of foreign trade turnover with the CIS countries was recorded with the Russian Federation (44.9%), Kazakhstan (31.2%), Kyrgyzstan (6.3%), Ukraine (4.4%) and Turkmenistan (3.7%).
On 11 December, 2020, the Republic of Uzbekistan received observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union. The foreign trade turnover of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the EAEU amounted to US$1.58 billion. Of these, the volume of exports amounted to US$475.7 million, and the volume of imports - US$1.11 billion.
In January-February 2021, the total number of exporters amounted to 2 830, which ensured the increase in the volume of exports to 1 206.3 million US dollars (a decrease, compared to the same period in 2020, amounted to 43.2%).
In the structure of exports, 80.7% are goods, which mainly fall on industrial goods (39.1%), food products and live animals (9.9%), chemicals and similar products (9.1%).
Due to a decrease in exports to other foreign countries, the share of exports to the CIS countries increased and their share in its total volume amounted to 40.2%. Accordingly, the share in the total export volume of other foreign countries decreased from 74.2% to 59.8%
Compared to 2019-2020, our main partners in the export of goods and services in foreign trade in January-February 2021 were such countries as China (19.1% of total exports), the Russian Federation (15.1%), Turkey (14.4%), Kazakhstan (10.2%), Afghanistan (7.2%), Kyrgyzstan (6.1%) and Tajikistan (3.7%). Their share in the total export volume reached 75.7%.
In the structure of the republic’s exports, a significant share is noted in the city of Tashkent, which is 31.5%, or US$470.7 million. In the structure of exports, the smallest share was recorded at the level of 1.6%, or US$24.2 million, which is marked in Kashkadarya region.
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 amounted to 131.3 thousand tons and, in value terms, exceeded 86.6 million US dollars (the growth rate, compared to the same period in 2020, respectively, amounted to 7.5%). Based on this, 95.0 thousand tons of vegetables were exported in the amount of US$52.4 million (the growth rate in value terms, compared to the same period in 2020, respectively, amounted to 23.6%), as well as 19.6 thousand tons of fruits and berries in the amount of US$16.7 million (the rate of decline in value terms, compared to the same period in 2020, respectively, amounted to 19.1%).
The main export markets for fruit and vegetable products are in Kazakhstan, Russia, China and Kyrgyzstan. Such branches of agriculture as horticulture, horticulture and viticulture developed at an accelerated pace. Thus, in January-February 2021, the share of fruits and vegetables in total exports amounted to 5.8%.
According to the results of January-February 2021, the largest volume in value terms of exports of fruits and vegetables falls on Kazakhstan (19.5% of the total volume of fruits and vegetables), which exceeds the volume of exports to Afghanistan by 3.3 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, according to the results of January-February 2021, textile products were exported in the amount of US$397.9 million, which amounted to 26.6% of the total export volume and, compared to January-February 2020, it increased by 27.2%.
Cotton yarn (54.1%), as well as finished knitwear and garments (23.9%), account for the main share in the structure of export of textile products. In January-February 2021, more than 327 types of textile products were exported to 50 countries of the world.
The largest share of textile exports falls on the Russian Federation (US$131.7 million - 33.1%), China (US$110.8 million - 27.8%) and Kyrgyzstan (US$54.2 million - 13.6%).
The volume of exports of services in January-February 2021 amounted to US$288.3 million, or 19.3% of the total trade exports and decreased, compared to the same period in 2020, by 37.9%. Transport services (73.7%), travel (tourism) (10.6%), telecommunications, computer and information services (6.9%), and other business services (3.5%) account for the lion’s share of the export of services. At the same time, other services (5.3%) account for the largest share, respectively, for other construction services (2.7%), financial services (1.2%), maintenance and repair services (0.4%), etc.
During the reporting period, imports made up US$3.02 billion (a decrease in growth rates, compared to January-February 2020, amounted to 8.3%). The main share in its structure is occupied by machinery and transport equipment (29.7%), industrial goods (18.6%), as well as chemicals and similar products (14.1%).
Analysis of the dynamics of imports of goods also showed that in January-February 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, the volume of imports of goods decreased by US$16.4 million and amounted to US$2. 9 billion, and imports services reached US$126.3 million.
Despite the general background of a decrease in imports of goods, there is an increase in some groups of commodity items, for example, such as medical and pharmaceutical products - US$204.5 million (an increase of 47.5%), essential oils, resinoids and perfumery substances, toilet preparations, polishes and detergents - US$35.5 million (+ 30.9%), cereals and products from them - US$122.6 million (+ 75.4%).
The share of imports from the CIS countries, compared to the same period in 2020, increased by 5,3%. For the same period of 2019, an increase was noted by 4,8% and their share in foreign trade turnover, at the end of January-February 2021, amounted to 42.2%.
In general, in January-February 2021, goods and services from 125 countries were imported to the Republic of Uzbekistan. A third of imports (US$2.18 billion) are accounted for by such large partner countries as the PRC (the share in total imports is 20.6%), the Russian Federation (20.4%), Kazakhstan (14.3%), Turkey (6.2%), Republic of Korea (5.6%), India (2.7%) and Lithuania (2.4%).
In the structure of imports of the republic, a significant share is noted in the city of Tashkent, which is 47.5%, or US$1.43 billion. The smallest share was recorded in Kashkadarya - 0.9%, or 26.5 million US dollars.
The volume of imports of services in January-February 2021 amounted to US$126.3 million, or 4.2% of its total volume and decreased, compared to the same period in 2020, by 67.1%. Travel (tourism - 56.6%), transport services (11.7%), other business services (10.7%) and telecommunications, computer and information services (10.5%) account for the bulk of imports of services. In addition, other services accounted for 10.5% of total imports of services, including a high share of construction services (4.2%), fees for the use of intellectual property (2.4%), maintenance and repair services (1.8%), etc.
The quarantine restrictions imposed during the pandemic also affected the service sector. In particular, as a result of restrictions on the transit of international traffic by the countries of near and far abroad, the import of transport services decreased by 3.7 times and amounted to US$14.7 million. At the same time, compared to the same period in 2020, the import of some services increased. In particular, imports of other business services reached US$13.5 million (an increase of 33.8%), construction services increased 13.0 times and amounted to US$5.3 million.
At the end of January-February 2021, the volume of machinery and transport equipment in the structure of imports reached 898.6 million US dollars and decreased, compared to the same period in 2020, by 37.5%, in general, the share in the total volume of imports was 29.7%. The decrease in the volume of imports of machinery and transport equipment was due to machinery specially designed for specific industries (by 20.7%), as well as non-specialized machinery and equipment for industry (by 17.6%).
In January-February 2021, in the structure of imports, the volume of industrial goods reached US$564.0 million and increased, compared to the same period in 2020, by 13.4%, in general, the share in the total volume of imports was 18.6%.
The main imports of industrial goods are cast iron and steel (US$254.7 million), metal products (US$63.2 million), nonmetallic products (US$58.0 million), textile yarn, fabrics, finished products (US$54.6 million), paper and cardboard (US$40.5 million), etc.
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