Unemployment has decreased in Uzbekistan, but problems remain
The labor market in Uzbekistan has undergone significant changes in recent years. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
In particular, more than 723 thousand new jobs were created in the country within three years, and the unemployment rate decreased by 4.1 percentage points. This made Uzbekistan one of the countries in Central Asia that reduced unemployment the most.
At the same time, average wages in dollar terms increased by 39 percent. The majority of new jobs were created in the service sector.
For example, nearly 900 thousand jobs were created in other services, 100 thousand in education, and 44 thousand in healthcare. However, more than 300 thousand jobs were lost in agriculture, industry, and transport-logistics sectors.
This is related to the economy's transition from agriculture to a service-oriented system. The financial sector is the highest income-generating industry, with an average wage of 1265 dollars.
In the IT and communications sector, this figure reached 1151 dollars. At the same time, real estate operations, IT, and transport-logistics sectors are leading in growth rates.
However, problems still exist. For example, the demographic growth rate of the working-age population remains higher than the rate of job creation.
Only one out of every ten new workers is employed in formal jobs. The gap between female and male economic activity is 33.9 percentage points, one of the highest in the region.
Remittances sent by migrants play an important role in the country's economy. In 2024, these funds accounted for 14.4 percent of GDP, with 77 percent coming from Russia.
However, the slowdown in the Russian economy and changes in migration legislation pose a risk of reducing these incomes. The government is taking measures to formalize the labor market and increase employment to address these issues.
Nevertheless, structural problems, including the high share of informal employment and the economy's dependence on the external labor market, remain. Experts emphasize that Uzbekistan's main task is to turn the demographic dividend into a source of internal economic growth.
This requires creating jobs with high added value (according to "Expert RA" data).
