Uzbekistan leads foreign entries into Russia

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) Border Service has published its most recent statistics regarding international visitors to the country for the initial six months of 2026, with Uzbekistan leading the count.

The report indicates that the total number of international entries into Russia reached 7.1 million in the first two quarters of 2026. This represents a decrease from the 7.8 million visits documented during the corresponding timeframe in 2025.

Uzbekistan headed the list of the top 10 countries sending travelers to Russia, contributing 1.613 million arrivals, a drop from 1.825 million in the previous year. Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan completed the top five, with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Turkey, and Mongolia following.

Tourism accounted for 676,400 arrivals from January to June. The majority of these leisure travelers originated from China (380,500 visits), Turkmenistan (46,000), Turkey (36,900), and Saudi Arabia (20,600).

Concurrently, 2.4 million foreign nationals stated employment as their main reason for entry. This influx of workers was primarily composed of citizens from Uzbekistan (1.1 million), Tajikistan (494,000), and Kyrgyzstan (289,000).

Educational pursuits attracted 202,000 arrivals, with students from Kazakhstan (47,000), China (42,000), and Uzbekistan (26,000) being the most numerous.

Furthermore, 2.3 million entries were classified as private travel. Nationals from Kazakhstan led this category with 850,000 visits, followed by Uzbekistan (263,000) and Abkhazia (225,000).