Uzbekistan's industrial appetite: food is the main profile of every fifth enterprise
The food industry is becoming one of the key segments of Uzbekistan's industrial economy in terms of the number of active enterprises. According to the National Statistics Committee, as of August 1, 2026, there were 63.9 thousand industrial enterprises in the country. Of these, 12.8 thousand, or 20.1%, were engaged in food production. It turns out that approximately every fifth industrial enterprise in the country is associated with food production. Moreover, [...]
Uzbekistan's Industrial Appetite: Food is the Main Profile of Every Fifth Enterprise
The food industry is among the most important segments of Uzbekistan's industrial economy in terms of the number of active enterprises.
According to the National Statistics Committee, as of August 1, 2026, there were 63.9 thousand industrial enterprises in the country. Of these, 12.8 thousand, or 20.1%, were engaged in food production.
In other words, approximately every fifth industrial enterprise in the country is associated with food production. Moreover, this is the most common type of industrial activity: no other industry from the list comes close to the 20% mark.
For comparison, the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products accounts for 9 thousand enterprises, or 14% of the total. Clothing is produced by 6.5 thousand enterprises (10.2%), fabricated metal products by 5.2 thousand (8.2%), furniture by 4.4 thousand (6.8%), and textiles by 3.9 thousand (6.1%).
Thus, the food industry outperforms the second most widespread sector by almost 3.8 thousand enterprises. Compared to clothing manufacturing, the gap already exceeds 6 thousand enterprises.
This shows that food production in Uzbekistan is not a narrow industrial specialization, but one of the most common types of business in the industrial sector.
However, a large number of enterprises does not yet mean an even distribution of production across the country.
According to statistical data, almost half of the output is generated by three territories — Tashkent, Tashkent region, and Samarkand region account for about 46% of the total volume of food products manufactured in the country.