Uzbekistan plans to increase its GDP to $300 billion by 2030 – nearly double the level expected in 2026. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced the new target ahead of the country’s 35th anniversary of independence. For a country with a population of about 39 million, growth on this scale will require further investment inflows and the creation of millions of better-paying jobs.
In his anniversary address, Mirziyoyev unveiled seven national development programs for the coming decade. In the economic program he set targets for investment, productivity, technology, and employment.
Uzbekistan is already on a strong economic trajectory. According to the World Bank, nominal GDP stood at about $72 billion in 2017, when the current wave of reforms was getting underway. By 2025, it had reached approximately $147 billion.
Growth has remained strong since then. The economy expanded by 7.7% in 2025, accelerating to 8.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. The IMF projects growth of 6.8% for this year and 6% in 2027.
Just three years ago, the authorities were targeting GDP of $160 billion by 2030. Now, Mirziyoyev said the country would surpass that level as early as this year. The new target is $300 billion by the end of the decade, while GDP per capita is expected to exceed $10,000 within the next ten years. The government also aims to create 2 million high-income jobs in industry by 2030.
Rising Foreign Investment
Government figures also point to a sharp rise in investment. According to the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, Uzbekistan recorded $43.1 billion in utilized foreign investment in 2025, up 24% from the previous year. The ministry classified $38.2 billion of that amount as foreign direct investment, with another $4.9 billion coming from international financial institutions. The government aims to increase foreign investment to $53 billion in 2026.
The government’s figures measure foreign investment put to use in projects during the year, which is broader than the standard measure of FDI used in international statistics.
Mirziyoyev has also set a target of attracting $450 billion in foreign investment over the next decade. The government has not specified whether that target will be measured using the same methodology as its annual investment figures.
Challenges to Sustaining Growth
The IMF regards further private-sector development, stronger competition, and reform of state-owned enterprises and banks as important conditions for raising productivity. After nearly a decade of economic liberalization, sustaining rapid growth will increasingly depend on productivity gains and more efficient private investment rather than the initial effects of reform.
Demographics are adding pressure to the labor market. Uzbekistan’s population is approaching 39 million and remains the largest in Central Asia. The IMF estimates GDP per capita at about $4,528 in 2026. Over the past decade, the country’s population has grown by around 8 million.
The government sees the technology sector as one source of more productive employment. Mirziyoyev has set a goal of involving 10 million young people in information technology, artificial intelligence, the creative economy, and other emerging professions. Up to 1 million people are also to be trained for higher-paying occupations, while at least ten universities are expected to enter the top 1,000 in international rankings. The number of university students has already reached 1.6 million, more than half of them women.
Water resources represent another constraint on future growth. Over the next five years, the authorities intend to extend water-saving technologies to all cultivated areas. Agriculture accounts for about 90% of Uzbekistan’s water consumption, while the World Bank warns that scarcity is expected to worsen as climate change reduces water availability and demand continues to rise.
Reaching the $300 billion target will therefore require more than maintaining Uzbekistan’s recent headline growth rates. With the population still expanding rapidly, the next phase of reform will have to raise productivity, sustain investment, and create enough well-paid jobs for a much larger workforce.
