Uzbekistan Diagnostic Assessing Progress and Challenges in

Thanks to their diversity and adaptability to difficult business environments, the role of 
small and medium enterprises has substantially grown. 
The share of SMEs
2
in GDP rose 
to 57 per cent in 2016 from 31 per cent in 2000, according to Statistics Committee data. 
Charts 5 and 6 
Source: The State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics. 
The number of registered non-agricultural SMEs was about 225,000 in 2016
 
(see chart 5), 
increasing to 230,000 in 2017.
 
They accounted for 82 per cent of registered enterprises in 
2
The SME sector in the definition used here comprises small enterprises with 21-50 employees and micro-
enterprises with 1-20 employees (with the exception of the manufacture of refractories and of metal products for 
industrial use where the threshold was 100 and 200 employees, respectively until 2016). There are some 
industries, mostly in mining and agriculture, where SMEs are not defined.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Share in GDP by sector, %
Non-state sector
"Private" sector
State sector
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Share in employment by sector, %
Non-state sector
State sector
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225
250
2
00
1
2
002
2
003
2
004
2
005
2
006
2
007
2
00
8
2
009
2
010
2
011
2
012
2
013
2
014
2
015
2
016
SMEs by sector,
Number of enterprises, thousand
Other
Transport/Telecom
Construction
Agriculture
Industry
Trade and restaurants
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
2
001
2
002
2
003
2
004
2
005
2
006
2
007
2
008
2
009
2
010
2
011
2
012
2
013
2
01
4
2
015
2
01
6