SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND COMPETITIVENESS IN UZBEKISTAN: DESCRIPTIVE TRENDS, REGIONAL EVIDENCE AND INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKS

Small business is one of the main sources of employment and household income in Uzbekistan, but its economic role is often assessed through a single headline indicator. This paper provides a broader descriptive evaluation using official national and regional statistics for 2010–2025. It examines the shares of small business in gross domestic product, employment, industrial output and exports; the sector composition of newly created enterprises; and differences among the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the regions and Tashkent city. International benchmarks for Kazakhstan, Georgia and Türkiye are added to place Uzbekistan’s indicators in a wider context, while explicitly recognizing differences in national definitions and statistical coverage. The evidence shows a structural divergence: the employment share remained close to three-quarters in 2025, whereas the GDP share declined from its 2017 peak of 67.4 percent to 52.2 percent. At the same time, the shares in industrial output and exports recovered to 34.9 and 36.6 percent respectively. Regional results are highly uneven, with the small-business share in gross regional product ranging from 21.1 percent in Navoi to 76.4 percent in Surkhandarya. An exploratory two-way fixed-effects model indicates positive associations between the regional GDP share of small business and its employment, industrial and export shares. These estimates are interpreted as descriptive relationships rather than causal effects. The paper argues that policy should move beyond the number of registered firms and place greater emphasis on productivity, survival, scaling, supplier linkages, export capability and region-specific constraints.