Uzbekistan Inflation Edges Up to 6.5% as Food Prices and Tashkent Fares Rise

Food and transport put fresh pressure on household budgets

Uzbekistan's annual inflation rose to 6.5% in October 2026, as higher food prices, new public transport fares in Tashkent and increases in water tariffs added to household costs. Consumer prices increased by 0.6% during the month, according to the National Statistics Committee's release published on November 5.

The annual rate edged up from 6.4% in September, although monthly price growth slowed from 0.7%. Compared with October 2025, when annual inflation stood at 7.8%, the pace of price increases was still 1.3 percentage points lower. Prices rose by 4.8% between January and October, against 5.7% during the same period of 2025.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 62.9% of October's monthly increase. Eggs became 5.2% more expensive, while cucumbers and aubergines each rose by 9%. In Tashkent, metro and city bus fares each increased by 26.1%, helping push the capital's monthly inflation to 0.9%, the highest regional reading.

Other purchases became cheaper. Lemon prices fell by 15%, grapes by 7.5% and sugar by 2.2%. Domestic airfares declined by 1.4%. Those reductions gave some relief, but the national average still reflected rising costs across food, transport and essential services.

What the inflation figures mean

October's monthly figure compares prices with September. The annual figure compares them with October 2025. The two measures can move in different directions because they cover different periods: the latest month brought a smaller increase than September, while the rise across the preceding 12 months became slightly larger.

A 6.5% annual inflation rate means that a representative basket costing 100 soums a year earlier would cost about 106.5 soums. Each household experiences a different increase, depending on how much it spends on products such as meat, fuel, public transport or education.

Food prices rose by 1% in October and 6.4% over the year. Annual food inflation increased from 6.3% in September. Services became 0.6% more expensive during the month, with annual growth accelerating from 7% to 7.3%. Nonfood goods rose by 0.2% monthly, while their annual rate slowed from 5.8% to 5.6%.

Services were still rising much more slowly than a year earlier. Their annual inflation rate was 14.4% in October 2025, compared with 7.3% this October. Between January and October, service prices increased by 6.3%, against 12.7% during the same period of 2025.

The main developments unfolded over several months:

• June 2026: household coal prices rose to 2.1 times their previous level after state price regulation ended.
• September 2026: annual inflation stood at 6.4%, with monthly price growth of 0.7%.
• October 2026: new Tashkent transport fares and higher water tariffs in three regions accompanied a rise in annual inflation to 6.5%.
• November 5, 2026: the National Statistics Committee published the October results.

Eggs and meat drive food costs higher

Eggs recorded the largest monthly increase among the main foods listed outside fruit and vegetables. Their 5.2% rise in October left prices 12.7% above a year earlier. Milk increased by an average of 1% during the month and 5% annually, while bread made from premium flour rose by 0.7% and 3.6%, respectively.

Meat prices continued to climb. Chicken drumsticks and legs rose by 1.6% during October, while mutton, fish and seafood increased by 1.4%. Beef with bones and whole poultry rose by 1.2%, minced meat by 1.1% and boneless beef by 0.9%.

The annual figures show how differently those increases affected household shopping. Mutton cost 19.5% more than in October 2025, boneless beef 17.1% more, beef with bones 15.6% more and minced meat 14.8% more. Whole poultry rose by 2.1% and chicken drumsticks and legs by 3.3%, making their annual increases much smaller than those for beef and mutton.

Sugar moved in the opposite direction during October, falling by 2.2%. Its price remained 0.6% above the level a year earlier. For a household buying the same mix of staples, cheaper sugar therefore offset only part of the increases elsewhere.

Seasonal produce moves in both directions

Aubergines and cucumbers each became 9% more expensive in October, followed by tomatoes at 8.8%, bell peppers at 8.7% and potatoes at 5.3%. Seasonal changes continued to influence fruit and vegetable prices.

Several vegetables nevertheless remained cheaper than in October 2025. Aubergines cost 31.6% less, cucumbers 21.2% less and potatoes 3.5% less. Tomatoes were 4.7% more expensive over the year, while bell peppers were up by 2.5%.

Fruit prices generally fell during the month. Lemons declined by 15%, grapes by 7.5%, apples by 3% and bananas by 1.3%. Compared with a year earlier, grapes were 19.7% cheaper and bananas 6.9% cheaper, while lemons remained 11.3% more expensive and apples 4.6% more expensive.

Excluding fruit and vegetables, consumer prices rose by 0.5% in October and 6.8% over the year, down from an annual rate of 8.6% a year earlier. Prices in this measure increased by 6.1% between January and October, compared with 7.2% during the same months of 2025.

Tashkent commuters face higher fares

Tashkent's new fares increased the measured cost of both metro and city bus travel by 26.1%. The capital's bus fare increase lifted the nationwide average for urban bus services by 7.1%. The committee accounted for different payment methods and compared equivalent journeys when calculating the September to October change.

Taxi fares increased by an average of 1.3% across Uzbekistan, including 2.5% in Tashkent. Residents of the capital therefore faced higher prices across several forms of everyday travel during the same month.

Rail travel also became more expensive. Suburban train fares rose by 1.4% in October and 8.8% over the year. Tickets for longer rail journeys increased by 0.6% monthly and 12.5% annually. The committee linked rail tariff changes to movements in the soum against the Swiss franc and revisions to factors used in fare calculations.

Domestic airfares fell by 1.4% during October and were 4.9% lower than a year earlier. The committee attributed the monthly fall to the soum strengthening against the euro. International airfares rose by 0.7% as higher fuel surcharges outweighed the effect of the stronger currency, although they remained 2.5% below October 2025.

Fuel prices remain far above last year

Petrol became 1% more expensive in October and 19.5% more expensive over the year. The monthly increase varied by grade: AI-92 rose by 0.5%, AI-95 by 2.6%, and AI-98 and AI-100 by 5.3%.

Recorded prices ranged from 10,500 to 18,000 soums per litre for AI-92, from 13,500 to 21,500 soums for AI-95, and from 16,500 to 28,000 soums for AI-98 and AI-100. These ranges show the spread of observed prices within each grade.

Propane rose by 0.4% during October, leaving it 44.7% more expensive than a year earlier. The upper end of its recorded price range reached 10,000 soums per litre. Methane prices were unchanged during the month but stood 10% above October 2025.

The fuel calculations used tax authority data covering October 1 to 25. Statisticians examined 29,245 petrol price quotations from 858 outlets, 8,464 propane quotations from 368 outlets and 14,284 methane quotations from 570 outlets. A quotation is a recorded price observation, so an outlet can contribute several observations.

Services connected with learning to drive, taking driving tests and obtaining a licence rose by 0.8% during October and 7.5% over the year. Higher costs therefore reached beyond fuel purchases to other parts of vehicle use.

Water, heating and education add to bills

Cold water and sewerage tariffs increased in Navoi, Samarkand and Tashkent regions. Across Uzbekistan, the average price of these services rose by 4.7% during October and 7.7% over the year. Tashkent region is a separate administrative area from Tashkent city.

Coal sold to households at market prices increased by 0.3% in October, while firewood rose by 0.5%. The coal increase followed June's much larger adjustment, when the end of state price regulation took household coal prices to 2.1 times their previous level.

Private education fees also rose. Private kindergartens became 0.6% more expensive, private schools 0.5% and private universities 0.1%. Charges for the corresponding services at state education institutions were unchanged.

Private tutoring increased by 1.6% during October and 6.3% over the year. Foreign language courses rose by 0.8% monthly and 5.3% annually, adding to education costs for families paying for lessons outside regular classes.

Insurance and financial services recorded the fastest annual increase among the main spending categories, at 44.5%, with growth of 44.1% since the beginning of the year. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose by 11.8% annually, transport by 7.6%, and restaurant and hotel services by 7.4%. Clothing and footwear, along with healthcare, recorded slower annual growth of 3.1%.

Where prices rose most

Tashkent recorded both the highest monthly inflation, at 0.9%, and the highest annual rate, at 7.4%. Its monthly increase coincided with the rise in public transport fares. Samarkand region followed with monthly inflation of 0.8%, while Navoi and Tashkent regions each recorded 0.7%.

Monthly inflation stood at 0.6% in Andijan, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya and Syrdarya regions. Prices rose by 0.5% in Karakalpakstan and in Bukhara, Jizzakh, Namangan, Fergana and Khorezm regions.

Syrdarya had the lowest annual rate at 5.5%, compared with 5.9% in Bukhara and 6% in Karakalpakstan. The gap between Syrdarya and Tashkent city was 1.9 percentage points. Samarkand's annual rate was 6.7%, Fergana's was 6.6%, and Kashkadarya, Tashkent and Khorezm regions each recorded 6.5%.

The committee recorded a relatively narrow range of monthly regional increases, from 0.5% to 0.9%. Within those regional averages, households faced different pressures according to the services they used and the goods they bought.

How the index captures price pressure

Food and non-alcoholic beverages added 0.39 percentage points to October's monthly inflation, accounting for 62.9% of the increase. Housing and utilities together with transport contributed 0.12 percentage points, while the remaining categories contributed 0.11 percentage points. Their shares reflect both price changes and how much weight each category carries in household spending.

Between January and October, food contributed 1.48 percentage points, housing, utilities and fuel 1.23 points, and transport 0.65 points. Together, those contributions totalled 3.36 points out of an unrounded increase of 4.82 points, or about 70%.

The 2026 consumer price index covers 517 items, including 419 goods and 98 services, compared with 510 items in 2025. More than 3 million price quotations were processed during October. Collection runs from the first to the 25th of each month in Nukus, Tashkent, regional centres and selected cities and district centres.

Since January, the committee has also calculated an analytical index using the geometric Young formula, a different way of combining individual price changes. It showed a monthly rise of 0.7% and an increase of 3.8% from December 2025. The main published inflation rate uses the modified arithmetic Young formula, whose use was recommended by International Monetary Fund experts.

The Central Bank has raised its forecast for inflation at the end of 2026 from 6.5% to 7%. The October release gives no exact dates for future tariff changes. For households, the immediate picture is already concrete: the annual inflation rate is lower than a year earlier, while food purchases, commuting and selected utility bills continue to become more expensive.

Key Points

• Annual inflation reached 6.5% in October 2026, up from 6.4% in September but below 7.8% a year earlier.
• Prices rose by 0.6% during October and 4.8% between January and October.
• Food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 62.9% of the monthly increase.
• Tashkent metro and bus fares each rose by 26.1%, while national water and sewerage prices increased by 4.7%.
• Petrol was 19.5% more expensive than a year earlier, and propane was up by 44.7%.
• Annual regional inflation ranged from 5.5% in Syrdarya to 7.4% in Tashkent city.
• The Central Bank's forecast for inflation at the end of 2026 is 7%.