Inflation in Uzbekistan rises slightly to 7.3% in February

Annual inflation in Uzbekistan rose slightly in February. According to the National Statistics Committee, it stood at 7.3 percent, up from 7.2 percent in January. This marks the first increase in overall inflation since July of last year. Nevertheless, it remained well below the level of February 2025, when the rate was 10.1 percent.

Monthly inflation was 0.6 percent. This was below the January figure of 0.7 percent, but slightly above the level of the same month last year. Core inflation – excluding fruit and vegetables – was 0.5 percent month-on-month. Year-on-year, it rose slightly from 8.1 percent in January to 8.3 percent in February.

Food prices rose by 1 percent month-on-month, following 0.8 percent in January. Year-on-year, prices were 5.9 percent higher, twice as high as in February 2025 (2.9 percent). Non-food prices rose by 0.2 percent month-on-month. The annual rate was 5.2 percent, down from 7.4 percent in the previous year.

Services and transportation

Prices for services rose by 0.6 percent month-on-month. Year-on-year, however, the increase slowed significantly to 13.3 percent.

Waste disposal fees rose particularly sharply, increasing by 4.7 percent compared to the previous month and by 32.6 percent compared to the previous year. Rents rose by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month and by 2.3 percent compared to the previous year.

In the transport sector, long-distance train tickets rose by 14 percent compared to the previous month and by 14.9 percent compared to the previous year. Airline tickets rose by 4.4 percent month-on-month, but were slightly below the previous year's level year-on-year.

Energy prices show mixed trends

The picture for fuels was mixed. Prices for AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline fell by 0.5 and 0.7 percent respectively compared with the previous month, while AI-98/100 rose by 0.3 percent.

Liquefied petroleum gas rose by 1.9 percent month-on-month and 9.7 percent year-on-year. Methane tariffs remained stable month-on-month, but were still around 30 percent higher year-on-year. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan revised its inflation forecast in January. It now expects inflation to fall to around 6.5 percent by the end of 2026.