Uzbekistan’s first full census since the Soviet era has found more than 810,000 people who were missing from the country’s running estimates, shifting the baseline for schools, clinics, housing, labor forecasts, regional budgets, and agriculture.
The preliminary results put Uzbekistan’s population at 39,047,321 as of January 15, 2026. That was 810,617 more than the official estimate used at the start of the year. The gap is only 2.1% in percentage terms, but in practical terms it is the size of a major city.
The count also shows a country that is larger, younger, and harder to plan for than regular estimates suggested. It gives the authorities a new map of where people live, how old they are, what homes they occupy, and how much farmland and livestock the economy really has.
National Statistics Committee Chairman Behzod Hamrayev presented the first results in Tashkent on June 30. The count was part of a combined population and agricultural census held from January 15 to February 28 under a September 2025 decree. It was the first such count in independent Uzbekistan. The last nationwide census took place in 1989, when the country was still part of the Soviet Union.
The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Uzbekistan’s permanent population was estimated at 38,236,704 on January 1, 2026. Two weeks later, the census found 39,047,321 people. Men numbered 19,766,166, or 50.6% of the population, and women 19,281,155, or 49.4%. The census also counted 56,900 foreign citizens who had lived in Uzbekistan for more than a year, mostly from India, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
The largest corrections appear to be regional. Most of the 810,617-person difference was concentrated in Tashkent Region. Its population rose from an estimate of about 3.2 million to nearly 3.8 million, moving it from seventh to third among Uzbekistan’s 14 administrative territories. Five regions, Namangan, Jizzakh, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya, and Bukhara, came in below earlier estimates.
The changes represent more than a statistical adjustment: a region that suddenly has about 600,000 more people on paper needs different calculations for roads, schools, clinics, water networks, public transport, land use, and housing. It also changes the way Tashkent Region is compared with the capital and other fast-growing parts of the country.
The first demographic results show the pressure that is coming through the age structure. Children under five were the largest age group, at 4.6 million. There were 3.86 million people aged 5-9 and 3.41 million aged 10-14. The working-age population stood at 21.7 million, while 12.5 million people were below working age. Nearly 169,000 residents were 85 or older.
Uzbekistan is not Central Asia’s youngest country, but it is the region’s largest young society. OSW put Central Asia’s median age at 26.6, with Tajikistan the youngest at 22.1 and Kazakhstan the oldest at 29.6. By comparison, Eurostat said the European Union’s median age reached 44.9 on January 1, 2025. Uzbekistan’s challenge is therefore different from Europe’s: it must educate, house, employ, and retain a large rising generation.
The housing results also changed planning assumptions. In January, housing and utility officials said about 7.1 million people lived in multi-apartment buildings. The housing data showed 4.8 million people, about 12% of the population, lived in such buildings. About 86% lived in detached houses with courtyards. The capital was the main exception: 51% of its residents lived in apartment buildings, while 45% lived in courtyard houses.
Agriculture showed even wider gaps than population. Areas under annual crops were 23% higher than current estimates, orchards and vineyards 18.8% higher, greenhouses 2.2% higher, and fish-farming water bodies 15% higher. Livestock moved the other way. Cattle numbers were 14.9% lower than estimates, sheep and goats 6.2% lower, and horses 11.2% lower. Poultry numbers were 12.7% higher.
Those figures change calculations for water demand, fertilizer use, farm credit, insurance, food supply, veterinary planning, and meat and dairy forecasts. They also raise questions about how much regular survey data had missed in a fast-changing rural economy, especially where household farming and commercial poultry production have expanded.
At a December 2025 FAO workshop, Hamrayev called the Population and Agricultural Census “one of the most important initiatives for the country’s development.” He said it would provide “accurate information” about population size, age structure, living conditions, agricultural land, livestock, and crops.
The census followed years of delay. Uzbekistan adopted its first post-independence census law on March 16, 2020, requiring a population census at least once every ten years. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed the plan in September 2025. Officials said the combined format would save 1.3 trillion soums and reduce the questionnaire from the 328 questions first considered to 71.
The count was also Uzbekistan’s first largely digital census. From January 15 to 31, residents could complete forms through an online platform using OneID. From February 4 to 28, Mahalla Seven representatives visited households. The National Statistics Committee said 82.3% of the population was covered online, while the rest was counted through door-to-door visits. A post-enumeration survey put overall coverage at 97.3%.
Digital tools lowered the cost per person to an estimated $0.12, with more than 55,000 Mahalla Seven members helping organize the process locally. Geolocation data were collected for more than 8.2 million objects, including settlements, residential units, farms, and other address-based units. During the census period, 2.1 million new users registered in OneID.
The census also updated the ethnic and language baseline. Uzbeks made up 89.4% of the population, followed by Tajiks at 3.3%, Karakalpaks at 2.2%, Kazakhs at 1.8%, Russians at 1.6%, Kyrgyz at 0.6%, and Turkmens at 0.5%. Another 0.6% belonged to other groups. About 35.7 million people, or 91.3% of the population, identified Uzbek as their native language.
The count carried both a social and an administrative message. As Huvaido momo Umarova, a resident of Ferghana who had taken part in six previous censuses, said in a UNFPA article on the census, “I believe it is important that everyone is counted.”
The results remain preliminary, with the official statistical compilation saying data will be refined after all processing stages are completed. However, the first figures already show where regular estimates missed movement in people, housing, land use, and livestock. For Uzbekistan, the census gives the state a new baseline for a country that has nearly doubled in population since 1989.
