Uzbekistan's Average Salary Reaches 7.27 Million Soums as First Median Estimate Shows 4.17 Million

New wage figures reveal sharp differences in earnings

Uzbekistan's average monthly salary reached 7,274,100 soums in January through September 2026, an increase of 18% from the same period in 2025, according to preliminary figures from the National Statistics Committee. Its first experimental median salary calculation put the middle of the earnings distribution at 4,166,300 soums for January through August.

Tashkent recorded the highest regional average, at 12,300,800 soums, while insurance and reinsurance had the highest average among the detailed activities listed, at 26,868,100 soums. At the other end, preschool education averaged 2,846,000 soums, and accommodation and food services recorded a median of 2,860,000 soums.

The figures cover workers at the organisations included in the calculations. Small enterprises, microfirms and agricultural enterprises are excluded from both measures, leaving a substantial boundary around what the statistics describe.

The committee calculated the median for eight months because September administrative income records were still incomplete. Readers therefore need to keep the reporting periods separate: the average covers January through September, while the median covers January through August.

What average and median salaries mean

An average is calculated by adding everyone's salary and dividing the total by the number of workers. A median is the value in the middle when earnings are arranged from lowest to highest. It splits the distribution into two halves and is less sensitive to a small number of very large salaries.

Consider five employees earning 3 million, 4 million, 5 million, 6 million and 22 million soums. Together they earn 40 million soums, making the average 8 million. Their median is 5 million, the middle salary. Four of the five earn less than the average.

Uzbekistan's new median adds a view of where the middle worker stands within the covered workforce. The average remains useful for following changes in total pay relative to employee numbers. Together, the measures describe more of the wage distribution than either can alone.

Average pay has nearly doubled since 2022

The national average rose from 3,734,500 soums in January through September 2022 to 7,274,100 soums in the same months of 2026. That is an increase of 3,539,600 soums, or about 94.8%, over four years.

The committee's figures show a steady rise across five annual observations, with each covering the first nine months of the year:

• 2022: 3,734,500 soums.
• 2023: 4,424,200 soums.
• 2024: 5,172,100 soums.
• 2025: 6,166,200 soums.
• 2026: 7,274,100 soums.

The latest annual increase added about 1.11 million soums to the monthly average. Growth slowed to 18% from 19.2% in the corresponding period of 2025, although salaries continued to rise in every region listed.

These are nominal salaries, meaning amounts expressed in money at the prices of each period. Purchasing power also depends on how much food, housing, transport and other expenses rise. The 2025 comparison included annual inflation of 8%; a corresponding inflation figure for 2026 was not given, so the latest change in purchasing power cannot be calculated here.

Tashkent leads, while Namangan grows fastest

Tashkent's average of 12.30 million soums was about 69% above the national figure and nearly 2.5 times Kashkadarya's 4.97 million soums, the lowest regional average. Navoiy ranked second at 8.82 million, followed by Tashkent region at 6.89 million. The capital and Tashkent region are separate statistical areas.

Only Tashkent and Navoiy exceeded the national average. All regions below the leading three recorded averages under 6 million soums, showing how far the upper end of the regional ranking stands from much of the country.

Bukhara averaged 5.84 million soums, Andijan 5.77 million, Syrdarya 5.74 million, Karakalpakstan 5.68 million and Khorezm 5.62 million. Jizzakh followed at 5.51 million, Namangan at 5.40 million, Fergana at 5.38 million and Samarkand at 5.37 million. Surkhandarya averaged 4.99 million.

Namangan recorded the fastest growth, at 20.3%, followed by Jizzakh at 19.8% and Tashkent region at 19.1%. Samarkand had the slowest increase, at 11.5%. Namangan's faster rise still left its average below the national figure, illustrating how a strong percentage increase can start from a relatively low salary level.

Regional medians give a different view of the gap

Tashkent also led the median ranking, at 6,791,200 soums, followed by Navoiy at 6,213,800 and Tashkent region at 4,317,700. These were the only three regional medians above the national median of 4,166,300 soums.

Syrdarya recorded the lowest median, at 2,998,400 soums. Kashkadarya stood at 3,028,100 and Namangan at 3,034,800. The capital's median was about 2.3 times Syrdarya's, a comparison using the same eight month reporting period.

Elsewhere, the median was about 3.60 million soums in Andijan, 3.56 million in Bukhara, 3.50 million in Samarkand and 3.49 million in Karakalpakstan. Jizzakh recorded 3.41 million, Khorezm 3.37 million, Fergana 3.29 million and Surkhandarya 3.14 million.

Navoiy stood much closer to Tashkent on the median measure: its median was about 91% of the capital's. Its average, by comparison, was about 72% of Tashkent's average. Within their respective reporting periods, the two measures show a narrower distance between these places at the middle of the distribution than in average pay.

Finance leads a widely separated sector ranking

Finance and insurance, including banking, leasing, lending and intermediary services, had the highest broad sector average at 19,712,600 soums, up 17.8%. Information and communications followed at 17,006,900 soums, an increase of 13%.

Transportation and storage ranked third at 11,269,200 soums and recorded the fastest growth among the listed sectors, at 19.8%. Industry averaged 8,365,900 soums, up 14.4%, while trade reached 7,694,400 soums, up 11%. Construction stood at 7,138,100 soums, an increase of 16.8%.

Lower down the ranking, arts, entertainment and recreation averaged 5,732,800 soums, up 12.1%, and accommodation and food services averaged 5,359,200 soums, up 11.4%. Education reached 5,015,200 soums after growth of 19.6%.

Healthcare and social services had the lowest average among these sectors, at 4,454,200 soums, despite an 18.2% increase. Finance's average was about 4.4 times as high. Over the four years since 2022, finance added about 9.87 million soums to its monthly average, compared with about 1.94 million in healthcare.

Specialist activities explain more of the pay range

Insurance and reinsurance averaged 26,868,100 soums, while auxiliary financial activities averaged 24,419,400. Financial services other than insurance recorded 19,053,300 soums. These detailed categories reveal substantial differences even inside the highest paying broad sector.

Computer programming and consultancy averaged 22,275,700 soums. Information services recorded 19,683,900 soums, compared with 12,920,400 in telecommunications. A single information and communications average therefore brings together activities with quite different pay levels.

Transportation showed a similar spread. Warehousing and support activities averaged 12,942,800 soums, land and pipeline transport 9,642,800, and postal and courier activities 4,639,400. The warehouse and support average was roughly 2.8 times the postal and courier figure.

Mining and quarrying led industry at 11,719,300 soums, followed by energy at 10,582,500, manufacturing at 7,937,700, and water supply and waste management at 5,312,900. In trade, motor vehicle and motorcycle sales and repair averaged 11,404,800 soums, wholesale trade 8,220,800 and retail 6,876,500.

For workers comparing employment options, these figures make the specific activity relevant alongside the broad sector name. Employment in transport, industry or trade can mean very different average earnings depending on the part of the sector involved.

School salaries lose ground against the national average

General secondary education averaged 4,791,400 soums in January through September 2026. That was about 65.9% of the national average, down from 67.1% a year earlier, when school salaries averaged about 4.14 million soums against a national figure of 6.17 million.

School pay increased by 15.8%, compared with national growth of 18%. The relative position of school employees therefore fell by 1.2 percentage points, even as their average salary rose in soums. The gap between the school and national averages widened.

Education also contained one of the clearest internal salary divides. Higher education averaged 11,520,500 soums, technical and vocational education 5,351,700, and preschool education 2,846,000. The higher education average was just over four times the preschool figure.

The broad education sector's 19.6% growth was faster than national salary growth, while general secondary education grew more slowly. Looking separately at schools, universities and preschool institutions helps explain why a sector headline can differ from the experience of a particular group of employees.

Median rankings shift at the lower end

Finance also led sector medians at 11,363,900 soums. Information and communications followed at 8,752,400, then transportation and storage at 8,300,500. Industry recorded about 5.86 million and trade about 4.65 million, both above the national median.

Construction's median was about 3.94 million soums, while arts, entertainment and recreation recorded about 3.65 million. Healthcare and social services stood at 3,267,000, slightly above education's 3,207,600. Accommodation and food services recorded the lowest sector median, at 2,860,000.

Healthcare had the lowest broad sector average, while accommodation and food services had the lowest median. Education also ranked above healthcare by average salary but below it by median. Each measure captures a different feature of how salaries are distributed among employees.

Finance's median was almost four times that of accommodation and food services. Even when attention shifts from average earnings to the middle of each sector's distribution, the distance between the highest and lowest paying activities remains large.

How the committee calculated the figures

The National Statistics Committee compiled average salaries from electronic reports submitted by enterprises and organisations. The median calculation used the administrative database called Income in the Form of Remuneration and drew on employees' average monthly earnings over eight months.

Both measures describe accrued earnings before personal income tax is deducted. The amount an employee takes home after tax is therefore lower than the corresponding gross salary. The published median is also an experimental calculation and is not currently included in the annual state programme of official statistics.

Workers at enterprises with branches are assigned to the location where the legal entity is officially registered. That location can differ from their actual workplace. Regional figures consequently reflect company registration arrangements as well as the distribution of employment.

The committee publishes figures covering small enterprises, microfirms and agricultural enterprises annually; those groups are outside these calculations. A date for a median incorporating September earnings was not given. For readers following the next release, the reporting period, workforce coverage and experimental status remain essential details.

Key Points

• Average monthly salary reached 7,274,100 soums in January through September 2026, up 18%.
• The first experimental median was 4,166,300 soums for January through August, a different reporting period.
• Tashkent led regional averages and medians; Kashkadarya had the lowest average and Syrdarya the lowest median.
• Finance led both broad sector measures. Healthcare had the lowest average, while accommodation and food services had the lowest median.
• School salaries rose 15.8%, more slowly than the national average, widening their relative pay gap.
• Both calculations exclude small enterprises, microfirms and agricultural enterprises and show earnings before income tax.