Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In the first quarter of 2023, the economy of Uzbekistan developed in the face of internal and external shocks.

Despite this, the economy has demonstrated resilience to challenges. According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Uzbekistan for the first quarter of 2023 increased by 5.5%.

In neighboring countries, in January-March, there is an acceleration in GDP growth compared to the first three months of the previous year. Thus, in Kazakhstan the economy grew by 4.9%, in Kyrgyzstan by 4.6%. In China, GDP growth was 4.5%. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Russia’s GDP in January-February decreased by 3.2% compared to the same period of the previous year, inflation slowed down, since the beginning of the year prices rose by 1.7%.

Inflation in Uzbekistan in the first three months of 2023 slowed down from 2.9% in January-March 2022 to 2.4%. Prices for food products grew mainly - 3.4% (for January-March 2022 - 4.4%) Price growth for non-food products amounted to 1.6% (2.1%), paid services - 1.6% (1.5%).

The growth rate of investment in fixed assets slowed down to 3.1% (26.3% compared to January-March 2022). The growth is due to a significant increase in investments at the expense of budgetary funds by 2.1 times, as well as a 22% increase in the volume of attracted foreign investment and government-guaranteed loans. Among non-centralized investments, there is a significant increase in foreign direct investment by 37%. In general, according to the results of the 1st quarter, the share of centralized investments accounted for 10% of the total investment, non-centralized - 90%.

In January-March, all sectors of the economy showed growth, however, there is a slowdown in the growth rates in industry, construction and services compared to the 1st quarter of 2022.

Industrial production for the first three months of 2023 increased by 4.1% (in January-March 2022 - 5.7%). The largest growth is observed in the field of electricity supply, gas, steam supply and air conditioning - 5.4%. The volume of production in the manufacturing industry for the period under review increased by 4.3%. In the mining industry, there is an acceleration of growth rates up to 2% compared to January-March 2022 (0.8%). Growth in consumer goods production slowed from 24% in 1Q 2022 to 5.1% in the first 3 months of 2023.

The volume of market services provided for the period under review increased by 10.9% (in January-March 2022 - 15.9%). Growth is observed in all areas. The highest rates in the 1st quarter of 2022 communication and informatization services grew - 21%, financial services - 16.9%, services in the field of education - 16.6%. In the transport sector, the volume of services rendered increased by 13.7%, motor transport by 4.2%. Passenger turnover increased by 5.3%, but freight turnover decreased by 3.3%. There is also a slowdown in the growth rate of retail trade to 5.2% (in January-March 2022 - 10.8%).

The growth rate of construction works in the first 3 months of 2023 slowed down from 6.3% in 1Q 2022 to 4.5%.

In agriculture, on the contrary, there is an acceleration in output growth rates up to 3.2% (2.8% in January-March 2022)

Foreign trade turnover for the period under review increased by 11.9% to $14.8 billion. At the same time, export volumes decreased by 2.6% and amounted to $5.7 billion, while for the same period in 2022 there was a significant growth by 2.4 times. The growth rate of imports slowed down to 23.4% (in January-March 2022 - 44.2%), and the volume of imports amounted to $9.1 billion.

The decrease in export indicators is due to a decrease in supplies of fuel and energy resources abroad by 48%, gold by 19%, industrial goods by almost 10%, raw materials by 40%. At the same time, the export of foodstuffs increased by 26%, chemical products by 13%, machinery and transport equipment by almost 2 times, finished goods by 36%, and services by almost 50%.

In imports, the main increase is accounted for by an increase in the supply of machinery and transport equipment by 42%, mineral fuel and oil products by 53%, food by 17%, chemical products by 16%, raw materials by 21%.

In general, despite numerous external and internal challenges that had a negative impact, the economy of Uzbekistan in the 1st quarter of 2023 demonstrated stability and maintained high growth rates.