Uzbekistan just crossed a threshold most of its Central Asian neighbors will take decades to reach. Depending on which agency you ask, the country now has somewhere between 37.7 and 38.4 million people — and it’s the only country in the region with a population growing fast enough to notice year over year.
Uzbekistan population in 2026 is approximately 37.7 million according to United Nations estimates, or 38.4 million according to Uzbekistan’s own State Statistics Committee. It’s the most populous country in Central Asia, growing at roughly 1.7–1.9% annually, with a young, urbanizing population concentrated around Tashkent and the Fergana Valley.
How Many People Live in Uzbekistan in 2026?
There isn’t one clean number here, and pretending there is would be misleading.
The United Nations places Uzbekistan’s population at roughly 37.72 million as of July 1, 2026, up from about 37.05 million a year earlier. That’s the figure you’ll see repeated across most population-data sites, since nearly all of them build their numbers from the same UN World Population Prospects dataset.
Uzbekistan’s own government reports a noticeably higher number. The country’s permanent population reached 38,382,685 as of April 1, 2026, according to national statistics data, a 1.8% increase over the same period the previous year. The breakdown showed roughly 19.3 million men and 19.1 million women.
Why Official and UN Figures Don’t Match
This isn’t a typo or a bad data feed — it’s a methodology gap most population sites don’t bother explaining. UN projections are modeled between census years using fertility, mortality, and migration assumptions, and they get updated on a fixed revision cycle rather than continuously. Uzbekistan’s own statistics committee, by contrast, tracks registered permanent residents directly and updates monthly. The domestic figure tends to run slightly ahead because it captures real-time registration changes the UN model hasn’t yet incorporated. If you need a number for a report or citation, use the UN figure for cross-country comparability and the national figure if you want the most current domestic snapshot.
Either way, the country’s rank doesn’t move much: Uzbekistan sits at 43rd in the world by population out of 237 countries and territories, and it’s comfortably the largest population in Central Asia — bigger than Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan combined.
Population Growth: How Uzbekistan Got Here
Uzbekistan’s growth isn’t a recent spike. It’s the product of a fertility rate that’s stayed well above regional and global averages for decades, even as growth has slowed elsewhere in the former Soviet sphere.
A few numbers tell the story:
- Net daily change: roughly 1,811 more people per day, driven by about 2,449 births and 626 deaths, with a small net emigration offsetting some of that natural increase
- Annual growth rate: commonly cited between 1.75% and, among the highest in the wider Eurasian region
- Fertility rate: around 3.4 children per woman as of 2024 — well above the replacement level of roughly 2.1
What most population sites skip is the “why.” Uzbekistan never went through the sharp fertility collapse that hit Russia, Ukraine, and much of Eastern Europe after the Soviet collapse. Family sizes in rural Uzbekistan, particularly in the Fergana Valley, have stayed large by regional standards, and public health improvements have pushed infant and maternal mortality down without fertility following the same downward curve seen elsewhere. The result is a population pyramid still shaped like an actual pyramid — wide at the base — rather than the barrel or inverted-cone shapes common across much of Europe.
Population by City: Where Uzbekistan’s People Live
Tashkent dominates, but Uzbekistan’s population is more spread out than a single-capital narrative suggests, with several mid-sized cities anchoring their own regions.
Uzbekistan’s Top 10 Cities by Population
| City | Approximate Population (2026) | Notable For |
|---|---|---|
| Tashkent | ~3.0–3.2 million (metro) | Capital, political and economic hub |
| Namangan | ~713,500 | Fergana Valley’s largest city |
| Samarkand | ~595,000–600,000 | Registan Square, Silk Road heritage |
| Andijan | ~492,000 | Trade gateway to Kyrgyzstan |
| Nukus | ~332,500 | Capital of Karakalpakstan |
| Fergana | ~299,200 | Agricultural and industrial center |
| Bukhara | ~280,000 | UNESCO World Heritage old city |
| Qarshi | ~278,300 | Qashqadaryo regional center |
| Jizzakh | ~179,200 | Transport hub northeast of Samarkand |
| Urgench | ~145,000 | Gateway to historic Khiva |
City population figures vary noticeably between sources depending on whether they count city-proper or metropolitan-area boundaries — worth checking the methodology before quoting a figure in a formal report.
Beyond the ranking, the geographic pattern matters: Samarkand Region is actually the most populous region in the country when you count the wider administrative region rather than the city itself, and the Fergana Valley — split across Namangan, Andijan, and Fergana — is one of the most densely populated agricultural basins on earth.
Population Density and Land Area
Uzbekistan covers about 448,978 square kilometers, making it a mid-sized country by land area but a dense one by population.
- Density: roughly 88.7 people per km² nationally (some sources put it slightly lower, closer to 80/km², depending on which population and area figures they pair)
- Global density rank: around 124th most densely populated country in the world
- Distribution: density is far from even — the Fergana Valley and Tashkent region are among the most crowded farmland-and-city corridors in Asia, while the Kyzylkum Desert in the country’s west is nearly empty
That unevenness is easy to miss if you only look at the national average. A density figure of “89 per km²” sounds moderate until you realize most of that population is squeezed into maybe a third of the country’s usable land.
Age, Ethnicity, and Household Structure
Uzbekistan is a young country, and it’s staying that way for now.
- Median age: roughly 28.0 years, well below the global average of 31
- Age structure: about 30.1% of the population is under age 14, while only a small share is elderly
- Sex ratio: close to even, 50.45% male and 49.55% female
Ethnically, the country is dominated by one group but not homogeneous:
- Uzbeks make up about 84.6% of the population
- Tajiks make up roughly 4.8%
- Kazakhs around 2.3%
- Karakalpaks about 2.2% (concentrated in the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan in the west)
- Russians around 2.1%, mostly urban and concentrated in Tashkent
Quick takeaway: Uzbekistan’s ethnic makeup reflects its Silk Road and Soviet-era history — a dominant Turkic Uzbek majority, sizeable Tajik and Kazakh minorities near the borders they share with those countries, and an urban Russian-speaking minority that’s shrunk steadily since independence in 1991.
Birth Rate, Life Expectancy, and Migration
Vital statistics reinforce the growth story:
- Birth rate: roughly 26.2 births per 1,000 population
- Death rate: roughly 4.8 deaths per 1,000 population — a wide gap that drives natural increase
- Life expectancy: figures vary by source, ranging from about 72.8 years to 75.3 years, with women outliving men by roughly six years
- Infant mortality: around 18.98 deaths per 1,000 live births — still elevated compared to Western Europe, but down substantially from a generation ago
Migration is the one factor pulling in the opposite direction. Uzbekistan has posted a negative net migration rate for years, and >recent estimates put net outward migration at roughly 6,000 people annually — mostly labor migrants heading to Russia, Kazakhstan, and South Korea. It’s a small drag against a much larger natural increase, not a population decline. Births still outnumber departures by a wide margin.
Where Uzbekistan’s Population Is Headed
Short of a major fertility shift, Uzbekistan’s population trajectory over the next decade is fairly predictable, since most of the people who’ll be adults in 2035 have already been born.
- 2027 estimate: projected to reach roughly 36.9 million under UN medium-fertility assumptions (note this reflects a slightly different baseline than the national figures above — another reminder to check methodology)
- Long-term projection: some models put Uzbekistan’s population as high as 73.5 million by 2097 if current growth trends continued uninterrupted, though most demographers expect growth to slow well before then as urbanization and rising education levels bring fertility down, following the pattern seen in most of Asia
- Urbanization trend: the share of Uzbeks living in cities is climbing steadily as young people migrate from the Fergana Valley and rural regions toward Tashkent and regional hubs
The realistic read: Uzbekistan will very likely be Central Asia’s dominant population center for the rest of this century, but the rate of growth is expected to ease as the country urbanizes and family sizes gradually shrink — the same pattern seen across most of the developing world over the past two generations.
READ MORE: Zambia Population 2026: Current Numbers, Growth, and Key Trends
How Uzbekistan Compares to Its Neighbors
This is the context most population pages skip entirely, and it’s genuinely useful for understanding Uzbekistan’s regional weight.
| Country | Approximate 2026 Population |
|---|---|
| Uzbekistan | ~37.7–38.4 million |
| Kazakhstan | ~20 million |
| Tajikistan | ~10.5 million |
| Kyrgyzstan | ~7 million |
| Turkmenistan | ~6.5–7 million |
Uzbekistan isn’t just the largest Central Asian country by population — it’s larger than the other four combined. That single fact explains a lot about the country’s outsized influence on regional labor markets, trade routes, and politics: nearly half of everyone living in Central Asia is Uzbek or lives in Uzbekistan.
Quick Takeaway: Uzbekistan’s population is young, growing, increasingly urban, and — outside the country’s own official releases — reported with meaningfully different numbers depending on the source. For most practical purposes, treat the range of 37.7–38.4 million as accurate for 2026, know that Tashkent anchors the urban population, and expect Uzbekistan to remain Central Asia’s demographic center of gravity for decades.
FAQ Section
Q1: What is the current population of Uzbekistan?
As of 2026, Uzbekistan’s population is approximately 37.7 million according to UN estimates, or about 38.4 million according to Uzbekistan’s own State Statistics Committee. The difference comes from methodology, not a data error — both are defensible depending on your source preference.
Q2: Is Uzbekistan the most populous country in Central Asia?
Yes. Uzbekistan’s population is larger than Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan combined, making it the demographic center of the region by a wide margin.
Q3: What is the largest city in Uzbekistan?
Tashkent, the capital, is by far the largest city, with a metropolitan-area population of roughly 3–3.2 million people as of 2026.
Q4: Is Uzbekistan’s population growing or shrinking?
Growing. Uzbekistan’s population increases by roughly 1.7–1.9% annually, driven by a fertility rate well above replacement level, even though the country has modest net outward migration.
Q5: What percentage of Uzbekistan’s population lives in cities?
Estimates vary widely by source, ranging from roughly 25% to nearly 50%, depending on how “urban” is defined and which dataset is used. The direction is consistent though: urbanization is rising steadily as people move toward Tashkent and regional hubs.
Q6: What is the median age in Uzbekistan?
Around 27–28 years, noticeably younger than the global average of about 31, reflecting a population with a large share of children and young adults.
Q7: How does Uzbekistan’s population density compare globally?
Uzbekistan has a population density of roughly 80–89 people per square kilometer, ranking around 124th globally — moderate on paper, but distribution is uneven, with the Fergana Valley and Tashkent region far denser than the national average.
Q8: Will Uzbekistan’s population keep growing?
Most demographers expect growth to continue through at least the 2030s before gradually slowing, following the same urbanization-driven fertility decline seen across most of Asia over the past several decades.
