The service sector is becoming a driver of Uzbekistan's economy: tourism brings in $3.5 billion, e-commerce overcomes $1 billion

Uzbekistan's economy is showing a strong structural shift towards the service sector, which is becoming a key source of growth, employment and exports. According to the Institute for Macroeconomic and Regional Studies, by the end of 2023, the share of services in the gross domestic product reached 47.4% — almost half of the country's entire economy. This is 5.9 percentage points higher than in 2020.

The growth of the sector in the labor market is particularly noticeable. More than 7.9 million people — 55.4% of the total labor force-are employed in the service sector. Leading positions are occupied by finance, telecommunications, education, as well as tourism and e-commerce. The total volume of services rendered has grown 2.5 times over the past seven years, and in some areas the pace has been multiple: financial services increased 7.6 times, ICT-4.9 times, education-3.2 times.

Tourism has become one of the main success stories. In 2023, the country was visited by 8 million foreign tourists, which brought the economy $3.5 billion in revenue — almost half of all exports of services. In terms of the growth rate of the tourist flow, Uzbekistan became the leader of Central Asia with an indicator of 20.1% per year. This was supported by reforms in the visa policy, the development of digital services such as e-visa, online booking and virtual tours.

The development of the digital economy is having an increasingly significant impact. The contribution of online services and e-commerce to GDP grew from 2.2% in 2017 to 3.7% in 2024. The volume of the e-commerce market exceeded $1 billion, and the country improved its position in global digital indices, strengthening the status of a growing IT hub in the region.

Logistics also shows positive dynamics: Uzbekistan has risen by 11 positions in the world Logistics Efficiency Index and has become the second country in Central Asia in terms of development of logistics services. Total exports of services reached $7.2 billion, which is six times more than in 2017 and accounts for about 27% of total exports.

The growth of the service sector, according to analysts, forms a new economic contour of Uzbekistan: based on digitalization, export potential and domestic consumption. This not only changes the structure of the economy, but also opens up opportunities for a large-scale transformation of the labor market and the influx of investment in human capital.