Uzbekistan needs a century to become a wealthy country, the World Bank says 

Uzbekistan needs at least 100 years to become a high-income country, that is, for the population’s per capita income to exceed $14,000. Kazakhstan is expected to achieve high-income status in 30 years. It was reported by the World Bank’s statement titled “Accelerating the growth through entrepreneurship, technology adoption, and innovation”. 

According to the statement, at least a century is needed for Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan to achieve a high-income country status. The population’s per capita GDP has to reach $14,005. Furthermore, the World Bank is predicting the economic growth of Uzbekistan to be 5,9 percent in the years 2025-2026. 

Other countries, in particular, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, would need about 28-30 years to achieve this target, whereas it may take 70 years for such countries as Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Belarus. The predictions have been made based on the average growth in the last 10 years. 

According to the economist Mirkomil Holboyev, the average growth was noticeably affected by the decline during the pandemic, as well as sharp decreases observed in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan at the start of the period.  

“If we consider the post-pandemic average growth rate, the per capita income in Kazakhstan will exceed $14,000 in 2026 alone. Similarly, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan might reach this level by the years 2034, 2037, and 2042, respectively. That is, Uzbekistan will anyway become the latest country which will reach this target (with the average growth in the last 4 years)”, the economist wrote on his Telegram channel. 

To mention, Uzbekistan’s GDP per capita amounted to $3,092 last year.  

Earlier, 7,2 percent growth was reported in Uzbekistan’s GDP in the first half of this year. Market services increased by 8,2 percent, industrial production by 6,6 percent, construction by 10,7 percent, and agricultural output by 4 percent within the GDP.  

Besides that, the first deputy of the Minister of Economy and Finance, Ilhom Norkulov, has previously stated that the GDP of Uzbekistan could increase from $160 billion to $200 billion by 2030.