Annual inflation in Uzbekistan drops to 5.5% as high base effect pulls down price growth

The committee stressed that a "high base effect" played a decisive role in slowing down inflation. The sharp increase in electricity and gas tariffs implemented in May 2025 created a high benchmark, which exerted downward pressure on the year-on-year comparison for the same month this year.

Monthly inflation for May stood at 0.2 percent, marking the lowest monthly change since last August. For comparison, monthly inflation in May of the previous year was 1.5 percent. Since the beginning of January, consumer prices have risen by 2.7 percent, contrasting with a 4.4 percent increase recorded during the same period last year.

The composite price growth rate, excluding food products, matched the April figure at 0.6 percent. In annual terms, this non-food indicator grew by 5.8 percent, which is nearly half of the rate recorded during the previous year.

Food prices remained virtually unchanged in May, whereas they had dropped by 0.8 percent in May 2025. Since the start of the year, food products have become 3.9 percent more expensive compared to 2.8 percent in the previous year. Over the last 12 months, food price growth reached 6.7 percent, up from 5.3 percent in the prior period.

Non-food items registered a 0.3 percent price increase for the month, though the year-on-year growth rate decelerated more than fivefold compared to last year. Since January, non-food prices have ticked up by 1.5 percent.

Paid services became 0.4 percent more expensive in May, showing a sharp deceleration from the 5.9 percent spike recorded in May 2025. Over the first five months of the year, service fees rose by 2.3 percent compared to 9.8 percent last year. The annual growth rate for the services sector settled at 6.1 percent, down significantly from 15.9 percent a year earlier.

Geographically, Jizzakh and Samarkand regions recorded the highest monthly price increases in May at 0.3 percent, while monthly inflation in all other regions fluctuated between 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent. Kashkadarya region took the lead in annual inflation at 5.8 percent, closely followed by Tashkent city, the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Samarkand region, and Syrdarya region at 5.7 percent. Fergana region recorded the lowest annual price increase at 5 percent.