Central Asia emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing tourism regions in 2025, with travel and tourism contributing $20.1 billion to the regional economy.
According to an analysis based on World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) data, the sector’s economic contribution grew by 17.7% during the year, the highest rate among the regions covered. By comparison, tourism GDP grew by 8.7% in Northeast Asia and 7.6% in Southeast Asia.
The number of jobs supported by tourism grew by 9.5%, while spending by international visitors increased by 26.4%.
Despite this rapid expansion, tourism remains a relatively small part of Central Asia’s economy. It accounted for 4.3% of regional GDP in 2025, slightly below its pre-pandemic share of 4.5% in 2019. The slight fall in its share reflects the wider growth of the region’s economies.
The increase is being driven primarily by travel within Central Asia and from neighboring Russia. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan together accounted for 90% of the region’s recorded inbound arrivals in 2025. Uzbekistan’s official statistics, for example, show that visits to relatives accounted for most foreign visits recorded for tourism purposes during the first eight months of 2025.
Comparisons between countries require caution because governments use different statistical methods, including whether they count border crossings or unique visitors.
Uzbekistan remains the regional leader in terms of tourism’s importance to the national economy. The sector accounted for 6% of GDP in 2025 and contributed $8.3 billion. Even there, however, tourism is considerably less economically important than in established destinations such as Spain, where WTTC forecast that it would account for almost 16% of GDP in 2025.
Kazakhstan has the region’s largest tourism economy in absolute terms, contributing $9.3 billion in 2025. Tourism nevertheless represented only 3.2% of the country’s GDP, reflecting the larger role of industry and trade.
The upward trend has continued into 2026. According to the Bureau of National Statistics, Kazakhstan welcomed three million foreign travelers in the first quarter. Uzbekistan was the largest source, accounting for 1.1 million travelers. Kyrgyzstan and Russia were the next largest sources. Revenue generated by accommodation providers rose by 13.9% compared with the same period a year earlier.
WTTC forecasts almost 13% growth in the sector’s economic contribution in Kazakhstan in 2026.
Tourism in Central Asia is expanding and generating substantially more revenue. However, visitors from neighboring countries and Russia still dominate the regional market, leaving longer-haul tourism to grow from a comparatively low base.
