Digital tools cut Uzbekistan's census costs by tenfold – Statistics Committee

Uzbekistan spent approximately $4.7 million (roughly UZS 56 billion) on its recent population and agriculture census, leveraging digital infrastructure to drastically reduce expenditures.

The preliminary results of the large-scale statistical exercise revealed that the country’s population has surpassed 39 million people, exceeding current running statistical estimates by 810,000. Following the conclusion of the data collection, Behzod Hamrayev, Chairman of the National Statistics Committee, shared insights regarding the financial breakdown of the operation and the cost-saving impact of digital platforms.

The total expenditure translated to a low per-capita cost of $0.12 per person. This budget was entirely covered by the state treasury and does not factor in international grants or charitable assistance, which provided essential hardware such as computers and tablets. The vast majority of the direct state budget – between 90 percent and 95 percent – went toward salaries for the "Mahalla Seven" local governance workers who managed the field operations.

The implementation of an online format, which successfully covered around 82 percent of the population, was the defining factor in keeping the budget low. If the government had relied entirely on traditional paper methods, overall expenses would have surged at least tenfold, pushing the per-capita cost above $1 per citizen. Transitioning fully to a manual system would have placed a significantly heavier burden on the local neighborhood teams, requiring substantially higher compensation and introducing massive logistical and transport costs.

The extensive dataset gathered during the census will serve as a foundational database for future development. The National Statistics Committee plans to publish these findings in stages on its official portal. The data will be fully open to the public, allowing researchers and software developers to utilize it freely.

Addressing privacy concerns, the committee emphasized that the data sharing is built on an absolute commitment to information security. While the public gains access to valuable statistical insights, personal information remains strictly protected, and only aggregated, completely anonymized records will be released.

The nationwide census ran in two distinct phases. During the first stage, citizens were able to submit their information independently through the dedicated portal census.stat.uz. The second stage involved door-to-door visits by the "Mahalla Seven" staff, who utilized tablets to digitally log the remaining households.