Uzbekistan Quality Job Creation as a Cornerstone for Sustainable Economic Growth

Identifying financing sources.
Developing infrastructure to match the 
demands created by continued high economic growth requires securing the 
financing at affordable interest rates. 

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Infrastructure as a Foundation for Job Creation
2.2
Assessment of the Energy Sector
2.2.1. Energy resources
Energy use is a critical issue. Uzbekistan faces the challenge of meeting high 
future energy demand against a backdrop of inadequate investment in the 
energy sector that has resulted in slow increases in supply. Energy demand is 
forecast to increase by 6.9% annually from 2014 to 2030. Demand for natural 
gas is expected to rise by 1.2% annually from 2015 to 2021 while production 
is projected to increase by only 0.7% annually. Demand for oil is expected to 
increase modestly by 0.5% per year while production is projected to decrease 
by 0.5% during 2015–2026 (BMI 2017). The current process of economic 
growth is highly resource intensive and unsustainable. In 2013, Uzbekistan 
consumed about twice as much energy per capita as Armenia and Georgia, 
and 20% more than the Europe and Central Asia region’s average (Figure 2.5).
4
4
Assuming a business-as-usual scenario, the country will lose half of its natural resources by 2030 and will 
experience a deficit in the energy balance of about 65% in 2030, leading to slower GDP growth (CER 2015).
GDP = gross domestic product, OECD = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,
PPP = purchasing power parity, toe = tons of oil equivalent.
Note: Dashed line indicates the energy intensity of non-OECD Europe and Eurasia.
Source: IEA (2016).
Figure 2.5: Energy Intensity, Selected Countries, 2014 
(toe per 1,000 units of GDP in 2010 PPP)
0.35
0.31
0.27
0.22
0.21
0.20
0.20
0.17
0.14
0.13
0.13
0.09
Regional average
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Russian
Federation
Kyrgyz
Republic
Kazakhstan
Moldova
Belarus
Georgia
Armenia
Tajikistan
Azerbaijan
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40

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