{"id":2362,"date":"2026-09-02T09:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T06:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltontrading.com\/?p=2362"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T07:02:58","slug":"independent-uzbekistan-how-the-countrys-retail-market-has-changed-over-34-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltontrading.com\/en\/independent-uzbekistan-how-the-countrys-retail-market-has-changed-over-34-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Independent Uzbekistan: How the Country’s Retail Market Has Changed Over 34 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since independence, Uzbekistan’s population has nearly doubled<\/a> \u2014 from 20.6 million people in 1991 to 37.5\u201338 million today. Trade has grown alongside the people: from a system of total shortages and rationed distribution to a market with an annual retail turnover exceeding 480 trillion soums, dozens of federal and local retail chains, and marketplaces whose revenue is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. Here is how this market has evolved \u2014 stage by stage, format by format, in numbers.<\/p>\n

1. The Soviet Legacy: Shortages, Rationing, Queues<\/h4>\n

Before 1991, retail trade in the Uzbek SSR was part of a centralized planned system: assortment, prices, and supply volumes were determined not by demand but by the state plan. Chronic shortages of goods<\/a> were the norm \u2014 many categories of goods (household appliances, furniture, quality clothing) were distributed through ration coupons, waiting lists, and closed supply channels for select groups of the population. To “obtain” a product was effectively synonymous with buying it. Private trade in the modern sense was virtually non-existent \u2014 the only legal alternative to state trade was collective-farm markets and consumer cooperatives, which sold mostly agricultural produce.<\/p>\n

This shortage-based model defined the starting conditions from which the market would have to build itself from scratch after 1991.<\/p>\n

2. The 1990s: Shock Privatization and the Rise of Spontaneous Trade<\/h4>\n

With the declaration of independence came the denationalization and privatization of trade enterprises<\/a> \u2014 the state gradually handed retail outlets over to private owners. Yet full market liberalization took not years but decades: until 2017, the country pursued a policy of active protectionism and strict currency controls<\/a> that limited free imports and competition.<\/p>\n

Under these conditions, bazaars became the de facto core of the country’s consumer market \u2014 more flexible than directive state trade, quicker to adapt to shifts in supply and demand, and the main channel for both imported and domestically produced goods throughout the entire post-Soviet period.<\/p>\n

3. The Bazaar as an Institution That Never Disappeared<\/h4>\n

Unlike many post-Soviet countries, where open-air and wholesale markets had largely lost ground by the 2010s, in Uzbekistan the bazaar remains a backbone format of trade. Chorsu in Tashkent<\/a> is a market with more than two thousand years of history at the crossroads of the Great Silk Road; the Alaysky bazaar<\/a> emerged on the site of traditional trading grounds where merchants from across the region had gathered for centuries. Both remain among the capital’s largest trading venues to this day.<\/p>\n

Even in 2024\u20132025, according to INFOLine estimates<\/a>, traditional trade (bazaars and unorganized retail) accounts for roughly 84\u201385% of the country’s retail turnover, against 13\u201316% for modern formats. By comparison, in neighboring Kazakhstan the share held by markets is lower \u2014 around 58%, while shopping malls hold about 30%<\/a>. This is one of the key structural differences between Uzbekistan’s retail sector and the rest of Central Asia.<\/p>\n

4. 1996\u20132016: The First Shoots of Modern Retail<\/h4>\n

The country’s first modern-format supermarket opened back in 1996<\/a> \u2014 Anglesey Food began operating as a neighborhood convenience-store chain, and in 2005 the chain was rebranded as Korzinka.uz (simply Korzinka since 2021). This is generally regarded as the starting point of modern chain retail in Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

Growth, however, was slow: strict currency controls limited chains’ ability to import equipment, goods, and technology. By 2010, a second major player had emerged \u2014 the Makro chain, which by 2018 had grown to 54 stores across 18 cities<\/a>. But on the whole, until the mid-2010s, modern retail remained a niche phenomenon concentrated in Tashkent and aimed mainly at the middle class.<\/p>\n

5. 2017: The Turning Point<\/h4>\n

Presidential Decree No. UP-5177 of 2 September 2017, “On Priority Measures for Liberalizing Currency Policy,”<\/a> abolished the system of multiple exchange rates and introduced current-account convertibility. This decision became the key trigger for the entire subsequent retail boom: free access to foreign currency allowed businesses to directly import equipment, goods, and franchises, and allowed foreign chains to enter the Uzbek market without the previous currency barriers. The currency reform was followed by lower customs barriers (2017\u20132018), banking-sector reform, and a radical tax reform in 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6. 2018\u20132024: The Chain-Retail and Shopping-Mall Boom<\/h4>\n

After liberalization, the market began growing at an explosive pace. According to Makro’s own data, modern retail grew by an average of 17% a year between 2015 and 2021<\/a>. New players entered the market one after another:<\/p>\n