Around 1.4 million Uzbek citizens are currently working in nearly 40 countries. While Russia remains by far the largest destination, the Central Bank said the share of labor migrants working in CIS countries has fallen by 29%.
Russia currently employs 834,200 Uzbek citizens, while 258,000 are working in European countries. Another 84,400 are employed in Kazakhstan, 72,100 in Turkey and 46,400 in South Korea. A further 97,700 Uzbek citizens are working in other countries.
Women account for 398,900, or 28.6%, of Uzbekistan’s labor migrants, while 402,100, or 28.9%, are young people.
The Central Bank attributed migration decisions in part to wage differences between destination and origin countries, which remain one of the main economic factors influencing where people seek employment.
The review also noted that 124,500 Uzbek citizens have found high-paying jobs abroad since the beginning of 2026.
The Central Bank identified Europe and several other developed economies as promising labor markets for Uzbek workers. By 2030, population ageing and a shrinking working-age population are expected to become major structural challenges for European labor markets, with the region projected to face a shortage of 7.5–10.5 million workers.
Demand is expected to grow for workers in mechanical engineering, high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure construction, transport and logistics, agriculture, healthcare, information technology, tourism and services.
The United States, European countries, particularly Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom, as well as Japan and South Korea are also expected to see growing demand for healthcare, care and social service workers as their populations age.
