Uzbekistan Demonstrates Confident Positive Trends: the Business Activity Index is Growing

The following changes were observed in the BAI components

The business activity index in August 2024 increased by 7.6% compared to the previous month and amounted to 1,076 points, due to changes in the following components:

• the number of transactions on bank accounts of business entities decreased by 13.1%;
• the component related to operating business entities increased by 0.2%;
• the intensity of the purchase of raw materials on the commodity exchange increased moderately by 30.1%;
• the trademark component increased significantly by 3.5%.

In the regional context, Navoi region showed the highest growth.

In August 2024, the business activity index for 7 regions increased compared to the previous month. In particular, Navoi (58.8%), Samarkand (42.9%) Kashkadarya (38.3%), Tashkent (35.3%) regions and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (34.3%) saw significant growth (Fig.2).

At the same time, this index in Syrdarya (-12.8%), Surkhandarya (-7.5%) regions and Tashkent (-7.5%) showed a significant decline.

TRANSACTIONS WITH BANK ACCOUNTS

The number of interbank payment transactions in August 2024 amounted to 6,111.7 thousand and decreased by 918.3 thousand transactions (a decrease of -13.1%) compared to July 2024.

The number of banking transactions in one region has increased.

In August 2024, compared to the previous month, the number of banking transactions between legal entities of the Samarkand region increased (3.6%). In other regions, there was a relative decrease, this indicator decreased significantly in the city of Tashkent (-15.3%).

ACTIVITY ON THE COMMODITY EXCHANGE

In August 2024, the exchange component of the BAI amounted to 1.3015. This means a moderate increase in the component level by 30.1% compared to the previous month. This growth is associated with an increase in the average physical volume of goods purchased in each transaction by 72.3% and a decrease in the number of transactions by 12.0%

At the Republican Commodity Exchange, the total turnover in August 2024 amounted to 5,650.3 billion sums, which is 3.8% less than in the previous month.

ACTIVITY OF ECONOMIC ENTITIES

The component of operating business entities in August 2024 amounted to 1.0015, which means an increase in the component by 0.2% compared to the level of the previous month. And also, this indicator has a negative value compared to the same period last year with a moderate decline of 1.4%.

The number of operating business entities in August 2024 increased by 1,873 units compared to June 2024 (486,581 units) and amounted to 488,454 units.

The number of large enterprises decreased by 15 units.

During the reporting period, the number of small enterprises increased from 392,681 to 394,712 units, which is an increase of 2,031 units. Also, the number of farms decreased from 90,133 to 89,990 units, which is 143 fewer units. The number of operating large enterprises amounted to 3,752 units, which is 15 fewer units compared to July 2024.

BRAND REGISTRATION

In August 2024, the index of protected trademarks amounted to 1,0345, which means an increase of 3.5% compared to the previous month. This month, 629 trademarks and trade names were registered by legal entities.

Ruslan Abdullaev, CERR