Only 4% of Uzbeks save money in savings accounts.
While bank account coverage is 86%, only 4% of Uzbekistan's adult population uses savings or time deposits.
Only 4% of Uzbek residents save in bank deposits.
Despite the fact that the majority of Uzbekistan's population has bank accounts, a culture of organized savings has not yet taken root: only 4% of adults use savings or term deposits, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
According to the pilot financial inclusion index, 86% of adults have bank accounts, one of the highest coverage rates among all analyzed areas.
However, only 4% of them use savings or term deposits to accumulate funds. The Central Bank considers this gap a key area for development.
This gap is most pronounced in rural areas, where only 1% of residents use savings or term deposits, four times lower than the national average. Women, on the other hand, demonstrate a slightly higher rate of savings product use – 6%, compared to the national average of 4%, which exceeds the national average. Moreover, among those who have already opened a savings or term account, usage is quite high: 66% of deposit accounts remain active, with more than three transactions made in the past 12 months.
According to the Central Bank, this indicates that the problem lies not in people's reluctance to use savings instruments, but in the limited availability of suitable products.
The savings product availability indicator for the population was 56 points out of 100 – the lowest score among the three types of financial products (payments – 69 points, loans – 64 points).
The Central Bank prioritizes the development of simple, flexible, and easily replenished savings products aimed at accumulating small amounts.