BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov 5
By Natavan Rzayeva - Trend:
The economy of Uzbekistan grew by 6.9 percent in nine months of 2021, continuing its solid growth after expanding by 6.2 percent in the first half of 2021, Trend reports via the Bluestone Investment Bank.
Increases in information and communication (21.6 percent), manufacturing (14.2 percent), hospitality and dining (17.0 percent), transportation and storage (16.0 percent), and wholesale and retail trade (10.9 percent) drove the strong results.
Uzbekistan’s GDP per capita for nine months of 2021 was 14.9 million soums ($1,402), an increase of up to 32.1 percent from 2019 was recorded.
Retail trade turnover reached 167 billion soums ($15.6 million) in the nine months of 2021. Small businesses and entrepreneurs, which account for 72.5 percent of retail trade turnover, increased volumes by 6.9 percent year-on-year, while large enterprises (13.1 percent) and informal trade (32.8 percent) also recorded significant growth in turnover as the Uzbek economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of October 1, 2021, the number of small business enterprises (excluding farms) operating in Uzbekistan grew to 472,273, an increase of 21 percent from the corresponding period in 2020. 76,471 new small enterprises were created in nine months of 2021, including 28,712 enterprises in trade and 15,435 enterprises in the industry. The total volume of services produced and provided by small and micro enterprises reached 23.5 trillion ($2.1 billion) in 2020.
