For the first time, Kyrgyzstan is consistently sending more money to Uzbekistan than it receives

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are neighbours with close economic and trade ties. However, financial flows between the countries have changed significantly in recent years. While in 2021 Kyrgyzstan recorded record levels of cross-border transfers from Uzbekistan, since then the direction of capital flows has reversed.

According to official data, cross-border inflows from Uzbekistan peaked in 2021, when Kyrgyzstan received 13 billion 140.8 million KGS, while 4 billion 693.4 million were sent to Uzbekistan. The gap was almost threefold in favour of Kyrgyzstan.

However, the picture changed in 2022. The volume of transfers from Uzbekistan fell by almost half to 7 billion 262.3 million KGS. At the same time, transfers from Kyrgyzstan, on the contrary, increased and amounted to 6 billion 463.6 million KGS. Thus, financial flows began to rapidly converge.

In 2023, the trend finally reversed, with the volume of funds sent to Uzbekistan exceeding incoming funds for the first time since 2018. Kyrgyzstan received 3 billion 587.2 million KGS, while sending 5 billion 813 million. The gap remained in 2024 — 7 billion 668.4 million KGS against 3 billion 452.1 million.

Data for the first quarter of 2025 confirm the stability of the trend. Kyrgyzstan continues to send more. In three months, 1 billion 318.8 million KGS were sent from the republic to Uzbekistan, while 674.6 million were received.

It is important to note that we are talking about cross-border transfers, i.e. transfers between financial institutions of the two countries, including interbank settlements and transactions between legal entities and individuals. Unlike transfers through systems such as Western Union, these transactions are most often related to trade, contracts and cross-border capital migration.

Along with the decline in volume, the number of transactions also decreased. In 2021, at its peak, 160,500 transfers were made from Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan. In 2024, their number fell by almost three times, to 60,200. At the same time, transfers from Kyrgyzstan increased from 125,500 in 2021 to 132,000 in 2024.