Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan lead Central Asia’s $5.7bn trade with South Korea in 2025
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan top Central Asia’s $5.7bn trade with South Korea in 2025
Central Asia’s trade turnover with South Korea reached $5.7bn in 2025, with Kazakhstan making up 56% and Uzbekistan 30% of the total, according to an infographic prepared by the Center for Economic Research and Reforms ahead of the first Central Asia–South Korea Summit.
The data underscore the deepening economic links between South Korea and the five Central Asian countries as Uzbekistan prepares to take part in the first leaders-level summit in Seoul on September 16.
In 2025, Central Asian countries exported $1bn worth of goods to South Korea and imported $4.7bn, lifting overall trade turnover to $5.7bn. Kazakhstan accounted for $3.2bn, or 56%, of the region’s trade with South Korea. Uzbekistan came next with $1.7bn, equal to 30% of the total. Kyrgyzstan posted $508mn, or 8.9%, while Tajikistan’s trade stood at $196mn, or 3.5%. Turkmenistan recorded $45.2mn, or 0.8%.
Combined, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan represented nearly 87% of Central Asia’s total trade with South Korea in 2025.
South Korean direct investment and loans to Central Asian countries topped $1.5bn in 2025. Kazakhstan received nearly $1bn, while Uzbekistan drew $474.5mn. South Korean investment and loans totaled $10mn in Turkmenistan and $9.2mn in Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan received $9,200.
More than 1,700 companies with South Korean capital are currently operating throughout Central Asia. The economic partnership is expected to broaden further into industrial cooperation, deeper processing of raw materials, critical minerals, energy, artificial intelligence and digital manufacturing.
Uzbekistan has continued to expand economic cooperation with South Korea in recent years. The country accounted for nearly one-third of Central Asia’s total trade with South Korea in 2025 and attracted $474.5mn in South Korean investment and loans during the year.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is visiting South Korea from September 13 to 16 at the invitation of President Lee Jae Myung. His trip comes as preparations continue for the first Central Asia–South Korea Summit, which will gather the leaders of the five Central Asian countries together with the South Korean president.
Multilateral cooperation between Central Asian countries and South Korea has been evolving since 2007. The September 16 summit in Seoul will elevate this mechanism to the heads-of-state level for the first time. The summit is expected to serve as a platform for advancing regional cooperation in transport, industry, energy, critical minerals, digitalization and investment.
The meeting comes after the emergence of other “Central Asia +” formats in recent years, including the first Central Asia–U.S. summit, the first Central Asia–European Union summit in Samarkand in April 2025 and the first Central Asia + Japan summit in Tokyo in December 2025.