Uzbekistan's poverty rate falls as World Bank highlights role of wages and employment

Uzbekistan’s national poverty rate fell from 17% in 2021 to 5. 8% in 2025, according to the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Assessment. At a recent press conference, the country's Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction reported a further decline to 3.

6% during the first nine months of 2026. The World Bank estimates that approximately 3. 7 million people moved above the national poverty line between 2021 and 2025.

Using the Bank’s upper-middle-income poverty benchmark of $8. 30 per person per day, adjusted for purchasing power, Uzbekistan’s poverty rate declined from 38. 1% to 12.

4% over the same period. Of the approximately 21 million people who moved above this international threshold across Europe and Central Asia, nearly 40% were in Uzbekistan. According to the World Bank, this places the country among the 15 largest poverty-reduction episodes recorded globally since 2000.

“More jobs and higher wages were the main drivers of Uzbekistan's progress in reducing poverty,” Najy Benhassine, the World Bank’s Division Director for Central Asia, told Euronews. Higher wages and more jobs drive progressAccording to the assessment, wage increases accounted for 6. 1 percentage points of the 8.

4-percentage-point reduction in poverty recorded between 2022 and 2025. The expansion of salaried employment was also identified as a factor contributing to the decline. Real wages for low-paid workers increased by at least 11 - 12% annually, after accounting for inflation.

Among men in the poorest 20% of Uzbekistan’s population, the employment rate increased from 38% in 2022 to 65% in 2025. Over the same period, the share in salaried employment rose from 18% to 46%. However, the World Bank also identified problems with the quality and stability of employment.

Around 60% of poor male wage workers are employed informally, while more than 40% work in irregular, temporary or seasonal positions. “Workers in these conditions face higher income uncertainty and fewer opportunities to enhance economic security,” Benhassine told Euronews. Separately, Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction reported that 824,000 people had been placed in permanent jobs during the first nine months of 2026, while the employment of 980,000 informal workers had been formalised.

A growing middle classThe share of Uzbekistan’s population classified as middle class increased from 37% in 2021 to more than 72% in 2025, according to the World Bank’s assessment. The Bank distinguishes between lower- and upper-middle-class households according to their economic security and risk of falling back into poverty. The upper-middle-class share rose from 8% to 31% over the same period.