Uzbekistan recorded 474,899 operating enterprises and organisations as of January 1, according to the national statistical committee.

The figure excludes farms and dehkan farms (small family-run agricultural enterprises). 

Of the operating enterprises registered, 407,850 were business entities. They included 403,767 small enterprises and microfirms, which accounted for 85% of the total.

The number of operating enterprises fell to 424,840 by January 1, 2025 on a 19.7% decrease from 2022. The figure also trailed the 2024 level of 485,024 and the 2023 peak of 592,371.

Small business entities totalled 358,116 in 2025, down 22.6% from 2022 (462,834) and 14.1% lower than in 2024 (417,080), while remaining 31.6% below the 2023 level of 523,556.

The latest data shows business activity remained substantially concentrated in the capital. Tashkent city accounted for 108,678 enterprises (22.9%), followed by Tashkent region with 46,479 (9.8%), Samarkand with 41,091 (8.7%), Fergana with 37,846 (8.0%) and Kashkadarya with 30,424 (6.4%).

Other regional figures included Bukhara (28,831), Namangan (27,097), Andijan (27,002), Khorezm (26,957), Surkhandarya (25,065), Karakalpakstan (23,747), Navoi (20,982), Jizzakh (18,461) and Syrdarya (12,239).

By type of economic activity, trade accounted for 153,370 enterprises (32.3%), followed by industry with 59,520 (12.5%) and agriculture, forestry and fisheries with 34,881 (7.4%). Together, these sectors represented more than 50%of all operating enterprises.

Other sectors included construction (30,343), accommodation and catering (30,374), transportation and storage (17,245), information and communication (11,901), health and social services (14,283) and other activities (122,982).

Of 407,900 active commercial enterprises, 320,870 were limited liability companies, representing 78.7% of all business entities. 

Private enterprises numbered 46,866 (11.5%), family businesses 36,158 (8.8%), joint stock companies 636 (0.2%) and other forms 3,320 (0.8%).

Uzbekistan was also recorded as hosting 18,164 operating enterprises with foreign investment, including 4,247 joint ventures and 13,917 foreign-owned enterprises. 

The number rose by 3,293 enterprises, or 22.1%, compared with January 1, 2025.

Foreign-invested enterprises were concentrated in Tashkent city (11,477; 63.2%) and Tashkent region (2,402; 13.2%), followed by Samarkand (678; 3.7%) and Fergana (615; 3.4%).

By sector, foreign-invested enterprises operated primarily in trade (6,494), industry (3,754), construction (1,412), information and communication (1,398), accommodation and catering (760), transportation and storage (586), agriculture (461), health and social services (211) and other activities (3,088) .

In a period of five years, the total number of enterprises with foreign investment increased 1.9 times, while the share of wholly foreign-owned companies rose from 54.9% to 76.6%.

China remained the largest source of foreign participation with 5,044 enterprises (27.8%), followed by Russia (3,181; 17.5%), Turkey (2,137; 11.8%), Kazakhstan (1,212; 6.7%), South Korea (693; 3.8%) and Afghanistan (635; 3.5%).

Other source countries included the UAE (414), Tajikistan (389), India (375), Azerbaijan (367), Kyrgyzstan (344), the US (340), Turkmenistan (270), the UK (247), Belarus (242), Iran (228), Germany (225), Pakistan (208), Ukraine (196) and Japan (126).