Museum Visits in Uzbekistan Up 14.5% in 2025
According to the Statistics Committee, museum visits in Uzbekistan rose 14.5% in 2025, reaching nearly 5.5 million visits across 137 facilities.
**Uzbekistan Sees Significant Rise in Museum Visits and Cultural Engagement in 2025**
**Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz)** – A press release issued by the National Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics on July 30, 2025, detailed key cultural and arts indicators for the year. The report encompassed data on museums, theaters, concert organizations, the circus, zoos, botanical gardens, cultural and recreational parks, and information-library institutions.
**Museums**
In 2025, Uzbekistan had 137 museums, including branches, marking a slight decrease of 1 unit (0.7%) from 2024. However, this figure represents an increase of 10 museums compared to 2021. Museum visits surged to 5,474.9 thousand, an increase of 692.3 thousand, or 14.5%. On a per capita basis, visits reached 1,445 units per 10,000 population, up 158 units (12.3%) from the previous year.
Tashkent City led with the highest number of museums (35 units), followed by the Bukhara and Khorezm regions (18 units each). The Namangan, Surkhandarya, and Syrdarya regions recorded the fewest museums, with 2 units each. In terms of total visits, Tashkent City again topped the list with 1,856.6 thousand, followed by the Samarkand (1,183.1 thousand) and Bukhara (879.5 thousand) regions. Per 10,000 population, Tashkent City registered the highest attendance (5,903 units), with Bukhara Region (4,204) and Khorezm Region (2,782) also showing strong numbers.
**Theaters**
Uzbekistan's 41 state theaters staged 11.9 thousand performances in 2025, attracting a total of 4,351.0 thousand visits, or 1,148 visits per 10,000 population. Tashkent City housed the most theaters (12), followed by Fergana Region (5) and Samarkand Region (4). The Navoi and Syrdarya regions had the fewest, with 1 each. Tashkent City also led in attendance with 1,107 thousand visits, followed by Fergana (622 thousand) and Khorezm (507 thousand) regions.
**Concert Organizations**
The country's 51 state concert organizations hosted 20,499 concerts, drawing 11,844.0 thousand attendees, or 3,126 per 10,000 population. Tashkent City had the most concert organizations (8), followed by the Republic of Karakalpakstan (5), and the Surkhandarya and Fergana regions (4 each). Per 10,000 population, attendance was highest in Tashkent City (9,637 units), Syrdarya Region (6,589), and Navoi Region (5,887).
**Circus**
Uzbekistan's sole state circus, located in Tashkent, presented 698 performances in 2025, an increase of 147 (26.7%). Total attendance reached 255.5 thousand, a significant rise of 98.2 thousand (62.4%) compared to 2024. Per 10,000 population, circus attendance increased by 59.5% to 67 units.
**Zoos and Botanical Gardens**
The country's 7 zoos, located in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the Andijan, Kashkadarya, Namangan, Surkhandarya, and Fergana regions, and Tashkent, saw their animal count decrease by 107 (12.6%) to 744 units. Despite this, zoo visits increased to 1,465.4 thousand, up by 233.4 thousand (18.9%).
Three botanical gardens operate in Tashkent, the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the Bukhara Region. Their combined area expanded by 5.6% to 113.3 hectares in 2025. Botanical garden visits saw a nearly 3.8-fold surge to 1,170.3 thousand, corresponding to 309 visits per 10,000 population, a substantial increase from 83 the previous year.
**Cultural and Recreational Parks**
The number of cultural and recreational parks in Uzbekistan grew by 25 units (18.4%) to 161. Their total area expanded by 34.5% to 1,830.5 hectares. Total park visits increased to 27.0 million, up by 3.2 million (13.2%) compared to 2024.
Tashkent City had the highest number of parks (29), followed by the Andijan (20) and Samarkand (17) regions. In terms of attendance per 10,000 population, Namangan Region stood out with 29,161 units, the second-highest figure after Tashkent City (46,063 units), indicating high park attendance relative to its population.
**Information and Library Services**
The number of information-library institutions in the country reached 17.8 thousand units in 2025, an increase of 2.8 thousand (18.7%). Total library holdings expanded by 4.8% to 89.2 million copies. The total number of registered library users reached 13.1 million people, up 2.3%.
Samarkand (2.0 thousand) and Kashkadarya (1.8 thousand) regions recorded the highest numbers of library institutions. By collection volume, Tashkent City led with 17.6 million copies, followed by the Andijan (11.9 million) and Samarkand (10.5 million) regions. Syrdarya Region registered the highest user density per 10,000 population (5,407 users), significantly above the national average of 3,461 users.