World Bank: poverty in Uzbekistan fell from 17% to 5.8%, but 22% of the population remain vulnerable

Poverty fell severalfold, but measured in different ways

The national poverty rate in Uzbekistan fell from 17% in 2021 to 5.8% in 2025, according to the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality assessment, as reported by Euronews. At a press conference, the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction announced a further decline — to 3.6% in the first nine months of 2026. According to the Bank's estimate, over 2021–2025 roughly 3.7 million people rose above the national poverty line.

What lies behind the decline

Under the stricter international threshold for upper-middle-income countries — $8.30 per person per day adjusted for purchasing power — poverty fell from 38.1% to 12.4%. Of the roughly 21 million people who crossed this threshold in Europe and Central Asia, almost 40% were in Uzbekistan; according to the Bank, this ranks among the 15 largest episodes of poverty reduction in the world since 2000. 'More jobs and higher wages were the main drivers of progress,' Najy Benhassine, the World Bank's Regional Director for Central Asia, told Euronews. Wage growth accounted for 6.1 percentage points of the 8.4 percentage-point reduction in poverty in 2022–2025; the real wages of low-paid workers grew by at least 11–12% a year. Among men in the poorest 20% of the population, employment rose from 38% to 65%, and the share of wage workers from 18% to 46%.

Job quality and vulnerability

The World Bank also pointed to weak spots: about 60% of poor male wage workers are informally employed, and more than 40% work in irregular, temporary or seasonal jobs. 'Workers in such conditions face greater income uncertainty,' Benhassine noted. The share of the middle class grew from 37% in 2021 to more than 72% in 2025, including the upper middle class from 8% to 31%; however, about 22% of the population remained economically vulnerable in 2025: job loss or illness could push them back below the poverty line. The regional gap is significant: in Tashkent 2% of residents were classified as vulnerable, in Andijan 32%. Separately, the ministry reported that in the first nine months of 2026, 824,000 people were placed in permanent jobs, and the employment of 980,000 informal workers was formalized.

Gender barriers and adjustments to state programs

Women account for 92% of economically inactive adults in poor and vulnerable households; 85% of them cite household and family responsibilities as the main reason. The gender pay gap reaches 35–40%. The Bank recommends expanding affordable childcare, full-day schooling and vocational education, as well as reforms to competition and access to finance. Minister of Employment and Poverty Reduction Botir Zokhidov said the assessment's findings confirm the results of the reforms and pledged to continue work on expanding access to decent jobs. The government has also adjusted its approach to business support programs: according to figures from the presidential administration announced at a meeting chaired by Shavkat Mirziyoyev on September 3, of the 86,000 small businesses created in the regions over the year, 15,000 have ceased operations, and 62,000 borrowers are having difficulty repaying loans. The programs' effectiveness will now be judged by permanent jobs created and stable household incomes rather than the volume of loans issued, with greater funding authority devolved to the district level.