Tourism boom in Uzbekistan

The number of foreign visitors to Uzbekistan has risen sharply in recent years. According to the National Statistics Committee, a total of 11.68 million people traveled to the Central Asian country from abroad in 2025 - an increase of 3.72 million or 47 percent compared to the previous year.

In 2021, Uzbekistan had only recorded 1.88 million foreign visitors. This was followed by a rapid increase: 5.23 million trips were registered in 2022, 6.63 million in 2023 and around 7.96 million in 2024.

Family visits dominate

Visits to relatives accounted for the largest share in 2025. Around 7.86 million trips - more than two thirds of all arrivals - were for this purpose.

Conventional tourism also played a growing role: 1.92 million visitors came for leisure and recreational purposes. Business trips reached 1.32 million.

Other trips were related to trade (446,800), medical treatment (86,200) or education (39,700).

Visitors mainly from neighboring countries

Most visitors came from neighboring Central Asian countries. In first place was Kyrgyzstan with 3.32 million trips. This was followed by Tajikistan with 2.70 million and Kazakhstan with 2.67 million visits.

Russia also remained an important source market with 984,400 trips. Other visitors came from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and China, among others.

Comparatively smaller groups traveled from Europe and North America. These included guests from Italy, Germany, the USA, France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Parallel to the rise in tourism, travel activity among the Uzbek population also increased. In 2025, citizens of the country made around 7.56 million trips abroad - an increase of more than a fifth compared to the previous year.

As with arrivals, family visits were also the main reason for this. Around 5.89 million trips were made to visit relatives. Leisure trips accounted for around a fifth of all trips abroad.

The most popular destinations were also in the region: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan topped the list. They were followed by Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Other destinations included the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, China and South Korea.

The government in Tashkent wants to further expand the tourism sector. For 2026, Uzbekistan is aiming to attract up to twelve million foreign visitors.

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