Annual inflation in Uzbekistan rises to 7.3 percent in February – first increase since last summer

Annual inflation in Uzbekistan rose to 7.3 percent in February, marking the first increase since last summer, according to data released by the National Statistics Committee. The rise was mainly driven by persistently high growth in food prices.

Consumer prices increased by an average of 0.6 percent in February. This represents a slight slowdown in monthly inflation – by 0.1 percentage points compared to January.

However, compared with February 2025, the pace of annual price growth accelerated by the same margin. Despite the increase, annual inflation remains 2.8 percentage points lower than a year earlier.

Food prices continued to rise faster than other categories. In February, food inflation reached 1 percent, compared with 0.8 percent in January.

On an annual basis, food inflation rose to 5.9 percent, more than double the level recorded in February of the previous year, when it stood at 2.9 percent.

Price growth for non-food goods slowed to 0.2 percent in February, compared with 0.3 percent during the same month last year. Over the past 12 months, inflation in this category reached 5.2 percent, down from 7.4 percent a year earlier.

Prices for paid services increased by 0.6 percent during the month, while the annual growth rate in this category declined by half to 13.3 percent.

Excluding fruit and vegetable products, the consolidated inflation indicator reached 0.5 percent for the month, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than in February 2025.

Overall, consumer prices for goods and services increased by 1.1 percent during the first two months of the year, while the annual growth rate accelerated from 8.1 percent in January to 8.3 percent.

The highest monthly inflation rates were recorded in Kashkadarya and Navoi regions, where prices increased by 0.9 percent.

Monthly inflation reached 0.5 percent in the Bukhara, Jizzakh, Syrdarya, Surkhandarya, and Fergana regions, while other regions recorded an average increase of 0.6 percent.

In annual terms, inflation was highest in the Fergana region, where it reached 7.8 percent, and lowest in the Tashkent region at 6.9 percent.

In Tashkent city, prices have increased by 1.3 percent since the beginning of the year, while the annual inflation rate reached 7.1 percent.