ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, June 2. In 2024, the Uzbekistan Composite Index (UCI) recorded a slight decline but maintained overall stability, Trend reports, citing data from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan.
The data obtained by Trend from the country's Central Bank indicates that despite a significant reduction in the number of listed issuers on the quotation sheet, the index was supported by positive movements in share prices, which helped avoid sharp volatility. By year-end, the UCI stood at 655.1 points, down 48.1 points compared to 2023. The decline was largely attributed to a drop in the number of listed equity issuers, which fell from 117 to 89.
The corporate bond market continued to be dominated by the banking and non-bank financial sectors. By the end of 2024, the total nominal value of bonds issued by listed companies reached 825.2 billion soums ($68.8 million), with non-bank financial institutions accounting for 82 percent and banks for 18 percent. Trading volumes in this segment showed robust growth, with 3,118 transactions totaling 381 billion soums ($31.8 million), representing a 4.1-fold increase compared to 2023.
While Uzbekistan’s stock market remains relatively small, it is expanding rapidly. In 2024, the total trading volume surged to 19.2 trillion soums ($1.6 billion), a 7.3-fold increase year-on-year. This boost in activity contributed to a 43 percent rise in market capitalization, which reached 17 percent of GDP by the end of the year. However, this figure still lags behind the average for countries with similar levels of economic development.
Manufacturing entities and financial institutions continued to
be the principal stakeholders in market transactions. The aggregate
quantum of securities transactions pertaining to publicly listed
issuers reached an impressive 19.6 trillion soums ($1.63 billion),
representing an exponential increase of nearly eightfold compared
to the fiscal year 2023. Manufacturing entities constituted 63
percent of the aggregate volume, whereas financial institutions
represented 33 percent.
Concurrently, the facilitation of investor engagement with
Uzbekistan’s equity market data saw substantial advancements in
2024, characterized by the assimilation of trading metrics into the
Bloomberg Terminal — a strategic initiative that has bolstered
transparency and enhanced accessibility for market
stakeholders.
