The key facts

  • Permanent population — 39.05 million people, 810.6 thousand (2.1%) more than the previous current estimate
  • The share of urban population was recalculated from 50.9% to 54.5%, life expectancy — from 75.4 to 76.4 years
  • The first comprehensive agricultural census was conducted: 7.6 million reporting units; production of agriculture, forestry and fisheries for 2025 was recalculated with growth of 15.7%

Final census results: the population turned out to be 2.1% larger

On 13 November, the National Statistics Committee presented the final results of the census of population and agriculture, which was conducted from 15 January to 28 February. The permanent population of Uzbekistan as of 15 January 2026 stood at 39,047,321 people — 810.6 thousand (2.1%) more than the current estimate as of 1 January had shown (38.24 million). The discrepancy arose because the current accounting was based on administrative data on births, deaths and migration, while the census refined these figures through direct counting. Deputy Chairman of the Committee Zokhidjon Ziyoyev explained the gap by the fact that the last comprehensive census was conducted back in 1989, and for all subsequent decades the population size was merely calculated.

What was revised in demographic indicators

After processing the data, the share of urban population was recalculated from 50.9% to 54.5%: 21.28 million people live in cities and 17.77 million in rural areas. Life expectancy at birth rose in the recalculation from 75.4 to 76.4 years, and the average age of the population is 29.6 years. The Committee stressed that these are not real changes over several months, but a refinement of previous calculations based on the census. Men make up 50.6% (19.77 million), women 49.4% (19.28 million). About a third of the population — 12.52 million people (32%) — is below working age; the working-age population is 21.74 million (55.7%). More than 2 million people (2.09 million) were temporarily absent from their place of permanent residence at the time of the census: 78.6% due to work, 15.7% due to study.

Education, families and ethnic composition

90.7% of the population aged 15 and older have at least general secondary education; higher and postgraduate education — 3.27 million people (12%). The gap between regions is significant: in Tashkent the share of people with higher education is 24.9%, whereas in Andijan Region it is 9.4%. Among men, 13.9% have higher education, among women — 10.2%. Uzbeks make up 89.4% of the population (34.9 million), Tajiks — 3.3%, Karakalpaks — 2.2%. Jahongir Kambarov recalled that the census was based on self-identification without requiring documents, so individual indicators may differ from administrative data. The share of women with five or more children over 37 years decreased from 35.7% to 8.8%, while the share of those who gave birth to three children rose from 15.2% to 31.1%.

Agricultural census and GDP recalculation

For the first time, a comprehensive agricultural census was conducted: 7.6 million agricultural reporting units were recorded. As of 15 January 2026, 12.24 million head of cattle, 23.09 million sheep and goats, and 120.9 million poultry were counted. Based on the census, updated enterprise reporting and improved observations, the Committee recalculated annual and quarterly GDP indicators for 2017–2025 according to UN SNA standards. For 2025, the average annual population was revised from 37.9 to 38.7 million, nominal GDP per capita — from 48.8 to 55 million soums, and the volume of production in agriculture, forestry and fisheries was recalculated to 623.5 trillion soums — 15.7% higher than the previous estimate. Kambarov emphasized that the recalculation means a refinement of previous estimates, not the appearance of additional output in a single year.

Regional discrepancies and what comes next

The discrepancies with previous data vary noticeably by region: in Jizzakh Region the population turned out to be 2.7% smaller than the previous estimate, in Namangan Region — 1.3%, in Surkhandarya Region — 0.9%, in Bukhara Region the indicator barely changed, while in the remaining regions the population turned out to be higher. At the district level the deviations are even greater: the population of Tashkent District turned out to be 1.6 times larger than previous data, and Andijan's — 15.8% smaller. The press release did not include a full comparative table for all districts and cities, nor recalculated indicators of provision of schools, kindergartens and polyclinics. The most populous region became Samarkand Region — 4.4 million people. According to Kambarov, the publication of results will continue until 1 July 2027, but due to high interest the Committee began publishing data earlier; further detailing down to the district level is planned. According to the Committee's current calculations, as of 1 October the permanent population reached 39.54 million people.