Levan Davitashvili: “Our trade ties with Uzbekistan have been improving progressively.”
Verdict: FactCheck concludes that Levan Davitashvili’s statement is TRUE.
Trade turnover with Uzbekistan totalled USD 28 million in 2012, USD 105 million in 2019 (prior to the pandemic) and USD 242 million in 2024. Furthermore, trade turnover increased from UDS 11 million to USD 19 million in January 2025 as compared to the same period last year. Exports have consistently exceeded imports throughout the aforementioned period.
Re-exports have steadily accounted for over 70% of total exports. Pharmaceutical products remain the top export product, followed by passenger cars. Copper wires held the top position in imports until 2024 but were overtaken by oil products in January 2025.
Exports to Uzbekistan, including domestic exports, have indeed increased and imports from Uzbekistan have also risen. However, re-exports continue to account for a substantial share of total exports. Considering these factors, FactCheck concludes that Levan Davitashvili’s statement is MOSTLY TRUE.
Analysis
Whilst commenting on Georgia’s economic relationship with Uzbekistan, Levan Davitashvili stated: “Our economic ties with Uzbekistan have been steadily improving. One could say that trade between the two countries has been progressing consistently.”
Uzbekistan is one of the few countries with which Georgia maintains a positive trade balance. The total value of exported products to Uzbekistan from 2011 to 2024 exceeded USD 1 billion whilst imports amounted to USD 355 million. Exports have consistently surpassed imports each year throughout the aforementioned period.
Exports to Uzbekistan reached their pre-pandemic peak of USD 98 million in 2015. They first surpassed USD 100 million in 2022 and peaked at USD 147 million in 2024. Furthermore, exports tripled over the past three years, whilst imports form Uzbekistan also increased, reaching USD 95 million. This upward trend continued into January 2025, with exports rising from USD 7 million to USD 10.5 million and imports increasing from USD 4 million to USD 8 million as compared to the same period last year.
Graph 1: External Trade with Uzbekistan (USD Million)
Source: National Statistics Office of Georgia
Approximately three-quarters of Georgia’s exports to Uzbekistan consist of re-exports. This share has not grown since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war. Re-exports accounted for 80% of total exports from 2014[1] to 2021 with this share later decreasing to 76% during the period from 2022 to 2024.
Graph 2: Structure of Exports to Uzbekistan (USD Million)
Source: National Statistics Office of Georgia
Pharmaceutical products are the top export product to Uzbekistan, unlike Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Nearly half of Georgia’s total exports to Uzbekistan in 2024 – USD 70 million of the USD 147 million – consisted of medication. Furthermore, USD 62 million of the figure above was from re-exports. The share of pharmaceutical products in exports was even higher in previous years, consistently exceeding 50% and even surpassed 80% in the early 2010s.
Light vehicles ranked second in exports to Uzbekistan with USD 14.7 million in 2024 followed by aerated waters at USD 9.6 million. The other two products in the top five are mineral waters and electrical transformers. Additionally, aerated waters led with USD 9.6 million in 2024 and pharmaceuticals ranked first with USD 8.3 million in 2023, in terms of domestic exports alone.
Oil products were the top imported commodity in 2024, amounting to USD 26 million, followed by copper wire imports at USD 25 million. The third-largest import was leguminous vegetables. Imports of petroleum oils totalled just USD 417 million whilst copper wire led with USD 20 million in 2023. Georgia imported only USD 3.6 million worth of oil products and over USD 87 million worth of copper wire between 2011 and 2023. However, the situation shifted in January 2025 when oil product imports surpassed copper wire imports by six times (petroleum oil imports reached USD 3 million and copper wire – USD 0.5 million).
Overall, it can be said that trade turnover with Uzbekistan has indeed seen growth in recent years, with upward trends observed in both exports (including domestic exports), as well as imports. However, it is worth nothing that re-exports still account for over 70% of total exports. Considering these factors, FactCheck concludes that Levan Davitashvili’s statement is TRUE.
