Workforce Migration Report 2026: Uzbekistan

Request the report

Turn your screen sideways to read the page at a larger size.

Registan Square in Samarkand at night, its three madrasas lit
Workforce Migration Report 2026
Uzbekistan
22,928
First EU residence permits for work issued in 2025

Contents

In brief

Citizens of Uzbekistan received 22,928 first EU residence permits for work in 2025, 20.3 percent more than in 2024 and more than seven times the 3,030 of 2019. The Migration Agency reports only the placements it and licensed private agencies make, 153,000 in 2024, with no split by country. Lithuania issued 34.7 percent of the 2025 permits, Poland 18.8 and Bulgaria 16.2. On ease of entry, then size, Bulgaria ranks first for citizens of Uzbekistan, then Poland and Latvia. Lithuania's Migration Department ends filing in Uzbekistan from 1 November 2026 (notice of 24 September 2026). Our estimate is 22,500 permits in 2026 (13,900 to 34,000). For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number; the direction is falling, and it stays falling through 2031. From 2028 we give one line on a stated assumption and two scenarios: in 2031 held flat gives 22,100, the sum of the destinations, a scenario without Lithuania's permits, 18,300, and route kept in Lithuania, a scenario, 26,200.

Observed

First EU residence permits for work in 2025, up 20.3 percent on 2024

22,928
Our estimate

Permits in 2026, our estimate, between 13,900 and 34,000

22,500
Our estimate

Permits a year from 2027 to 2031: the range is too wide for a yearly number

Falling
Observed

Lithuania's share of the first EU residence permits for work issued to citizens of Uzbekistan, 2025

34.7%

37.1 million people, young and growing fast

Uzbekistan has 37.1 million people, 6.3 million more than in 2015: births outnumber deaths by about 710,000 a year, while slightly more people leave than arrive, on the UN's count of moves of residence, which leaves out circular work abroad. Output per head is 3,968 US dollars, 28 percent of the world average, and the economy grew 7.7 percent in 2025. Half the population is under 28, and the number aged 15 to 64 keeps rising until 2041.

Kalta Minor minaret, Khiva

People living in Uzbekistan in 2025, mid year

37,053,428

20.5 percent more than in 2015. People aged 15 to 64 were 62.6 percent of the population in 2025.

Median age in 2025

27.9years

Half the population is younger. Our estimate from the World Bank's five year age groups.

GDP per head in 2025

3,968dollars

28 percent of the world average of 14,406 US dollars.

The minimum wage a month, 2026

99euro

1,360,000 UZS a month, at 13,737.81 UZS to the euro.

Money sent home by people working abroad, share of GDP, 2025

14.3%

Against 0.8 percent across the world.

The rules for going abroad

15 September 2024A migration partnership with Germany is signed in Samarkand.
1 November 2024Every foreign job offer goes on the state platform.

Sources: World Bank, World Development Indicators (population, GDP per head, personal remittances received as a share of GDP) and population estimates and projections (five year age groups, for our median age), retrieved 27 September 2026. Wage: President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Decree UP-115 of 23 June 2026 on raising wages, pensions, stipends and benefits, item (b)(i), retrieved 27 September 2026. Key dates: lex.uz, Presidential Resolution PP-91 of 4 March 2025 and PP-367 of 17 October 2024.

Births drive growth; circular work abroad is not in the count

Births outnumber deaths by about 710,000 a year; on the UN's count, net departures stay under 10,000

In 2024, births minus deaths came to +709,893 and net migration to −7,066. The UN counts changes of usual residence, so circular work abroad is not in it: remittances were 14.3 percent of GDP, and the agency reported 153,000 placements in 2024.

Births minus deathsNet migration
0+200,000+400,000+600,000+800,0002019202020212022202320242025Births minus deathsNet migrationChange in the population+618,154−9,341+608,813+643,750−9,208+634,542+689,326−9,205+680,121+715,410−5,007+710,403+722,280−6,004+716,276+709,893−7,066+702,827−6,987

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (net migration and crude birth and death rates from UN World Population Prospects 2024, whose estimates end in 2023; later years are its projection), retrieved 27 September 2026. Births minus deaths is our arithmetic on the crude rates. Not yet published: births minus deaths for 2025.

About 46.64 million people by 2041 on the World Bank's projection

Estimated to 2025, then the World Bank's projection in the lighter line.

30 million35 million40 million45 million50 millionWorld Bank projection30.75 million in 201537.05 million in 202546.64 million in 2041201520202025203120362041

Source: World Bank, SP.POP.TOTL (World Development Indicators); World Bank, population projection based on UN World Population Prospects 2024; retrieved 27 September 2026.

The share aged 65 and over rises to 9%

0 to 1415 to 6465 and over
2025, observed31.3%62.6%6.1%2041, the World Bank's projection27.6%63.5%8.9%

Source: World Bank, population estimates and projections, retrieved 27 September 2026.

147.0 billion US dollars in 2025, and the IMF forecast to 2031

Billion US dollars at current prices of 2025IMF forecast
50100150200250147.0 in 2025207.4 in 203120174.7%20196.8%20218.2%20236.3%20257.7%20275.9%20295.8%20315.7%

Real growth under each year: observed to 2025 (World Bank), the IMF forecast after. Sources: World Bank, NY.GDP.MKTP.CD (2025); IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026; Werklist calculation: the other years are the 2025 value moved by the real growth rates; retrieved 27 September 2026.

Request the full report

All 13 pages as a PDF, sent to your email.

You are

The language of the PDF you receive.

We send the report to this address.

The country where your company is based.

Select the country code, then enter the number.

When you request this report, we will also email you Werklist report updates: new and revised country reports and short notes on the markets they cover, at most twice a month. You can say no now with the box below, or at any time with the unsubscribe link in every email we send, the first one included.

Page 1 of 13Use the arrow keys, the buttons or swipe to move between pages.Swipe to turn the page. Pinch to zoom.

What this report answers

  • How many first EU residence permits for work went to citizens of Uzbekistan each year since 2019?

    22,928 in 2025, 20.3% more than the 19,065 of 2024 and more than seven times the 3,030 of 2019, with dips in 2020 and 2024.

  • Which EU countries issue the most of them, and which are growing?

    Lithuania issued 7,960 in 2025, 34.7% of the total, ahead of Poland with 4,305 and Bulgaria with 3,716. Lithuania has led since 2023 and Bulgaria doubled in 2025, while Poland is below its 2022 high and Croatia halved.

  • How many placements in jobs abroad does Uzbekistan count, and what do they leave out?

    The Migration Agency counts 153,000 placements in jobs abroad in 2024, made by itself and licensed private agencies, with no split by country. Anyone who finds a job abroad on their own is left out, including most who go to Russia and Kazakhstan.

  • What rules apply at home before a worker from Uzbekistan can leave?

    Since 1 November 2024 every foreign job offer is published on the Migration Agency's platform. A private agency needs a licence and a reserve of 1.76 billion som, and people going to developed countries can borrow up to 10 million som from the Migration Fund.

  • How are the rules changing in the main destinations?

    Lithuania ends filing in Uzbekistan from 1 November 2026, after its quota ran out on 7 September. Lithuania, Poland and Bulgaria tighten their rules and Croatia holds; permits to Uzbeks doubled in Bulgaria in 2025 and fell 52 percent in Croatia.

  • How many first EU residence permits for work do we expect in 2026, and what comes after?

    About 22,500 in 2026, between 13,900 and 34,000. From 2027 Lithuania's permits leave the estimate, and the direction is falling through 2031. In 2031 held flat, a stated assumption, gives 22,100; the sum of the destinations, a scenario, 18,300; route kept in Lithuania, a scenario, 26,200.

The full report answers each question with its figures, charts and sources. Request the full report