Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has published a report on the labor market for the second quarter of 2025.

According to the regulator, the period saw a significant increase in announced job vacancies. “Compared to the first quarter, the number of job offers rose by 28.7%, with a large share in trade (19.4%), public catering (17.5%), and industry (16.8%),” the report notes.

At the same time, the number of active resumes continued to grow, especially in trade, services, marketing, and advertising. However, the Central Bank emphasizes that overall online job search activity has declined compared to previous years, which may indicate a mismatch between employers’ qualification requirements and applicants’ skills.

The report also notes that the share of entrepreneurs planning to increase employment over the next three months fell to 30.2% from 36.3% in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the share of companies intending to maintain their current workforce rose from 56.4% to 61.2%. “This indicates that businesses maintain demand for labor but expect more moderate growth in the near future,” the Central Bank explains.

Moreover, the number of individual entrepreneurs and self-employed continues to rise. As of 1 July 2025, the number of private entrepreneurs reached 296,000, up 3.6% from last year. The number of self-employed grew 1.5 times to 5.5 million.

The report also shows that nominal wages increased by 17.2% year-on-year in the second quarter, while real growth reached 7.3%. The average salary nationwide reached nearly 6 million soms, with the highest incomes in the financial and information-communication sectors.

However, real wage growth in Uzbekistan remains below that of other Central Asian and Caucasus countries. For example, in January–March 2025, the average real wage growth in the region was 9–9.8%, compared to 7.2% in Uzbekistan. The report emphasizes that this may limit purchasing power and overall demand in the economy.

Additionally, the Central Bank notes a rise in remittances from labor migrants. In the second quarter of 2025, inflows reached US$4.8 billion, up 21.4% from the same period in 2024, driven mainly by stronger foreign currency exchange rates and wage growth in the migrants’ host countries.

Thus, according to the Central Bank, Uzbekistan’s labor market continues to show growth in vacancies and wages amid structural transformation and an increasing number of self-employed individuals.

At the same time, the imbalance between demand for skilled labor and applicant activity continues, creating certain pressures on the economy and inflation.