In late May, the National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan announced that the country’s tourist intake within the first four months of 2026 increased 29 percent compared to the same period last year, with the overall number of tourists exceeding 4 million.
The latest figures are part of a broader trend that has transformed Uzbekistan into one of Central Asia’s fastest-growing tourism destinations. Last year reportedly 11.7 million people visited the country, a 46.8 percent increase, or 3.7 million more, than in 2024.
Although the statistics indicate that tourists come from over 200 countries across the globe, the majority come from Uzbekistan’s immediate neighbors. Kyrgyz citizens account for the largest share, with 3.3 million visits in 2025 alone, followed by visitors from Tajikistan (2.7 million) and Kazakhstan (2.7 million). Even Turkmenistan, one of the region’s least accessible countries, accounted for 370,000 arrivals in 2025.
The scale of growth is particularly striking when viewed over a longer time period. Uzbekistan’s 11.7 million visitor arrivals in 2025 were 333.3 percent higher than in 2017 (2.7 million), amounting to a 4.3 fold increase over the country’s pre-pandemic tourism figures.
