First census since Soviet times: Uzbekistan's population reaches 39.05 million

Uzbekistan's population, according to the results of the first census since independence, stood at 39,047,321 people as of January 15, 2026. The figure exceeded the previous estimate by 810,600 people, or 2.1%, the National Statistics Committee reported at a press conference on November 13.

Deputy Chairman of the Committee Zokhidjon Ziyaev explained: the discrepancy is explained by the long gap between censuses — the previous one was conducted back in Soviet times, in 1989, when about 19.9 million people lived in the republic. Since then the population has almost doubled.

The largest adjustment concerned the share of the urban population: it rose from 50.9% to 54.5%, that is, by 3.6 percentage points. Urban residents number 21.28 million, rural residents — 17.77 million. The committee stressed: the change reflects a refinement of previous estimates, not a mass outflow of population from villages.

Men make up 19.77 million (50.6%), women — 19.28 million (49.4%); the gap is 485,100 people in favor of men. The average age has been revised from 29.5 to 29.6 years, life expectancy — from 75.4 to 76.4 years. The total fertility rate has practically not changed: 3.21 children per woman against the previous estimate of 3.2.

The working-age population stood at 21.74 million people (55.7%), which is 403,200 people, or 1.9%, above previous calculations. Children and adolescents below working age — 12.52 million (32%), people older than working age — 4.79 million (12.3%).

By ethnic composition, Uzbeks make up 34.9 million (89.4%), Tajiks — 1.28 million (3.3%), Karakalpaks — 841,400 (2.2%), Kazakhs — 707,300 (1.8%), Russians — 606,500 (1.6%), Kyrgyz — 219,100 (0.6%), Turkmens — 194,800 (0.5%).

During the census, 36.96 million people were at their place of usual residence, while another 2.09 million were temporarily absent. Of those temporarily absent, 1.64 million (78.6%) had left to earn money. The count was carried out with technical assistance from UNFPA and IOM.