Uzbekistan Population 2023 (Live)

Uzbekistan’s population is currently growing at a steady pace. The current population is 35.60 million people, which is expected to increase over the next few decades until its peaks at 44.4 million people in 2070. By the end of the century, the population is estimated to be about 42.27 million people.

Uzbekistan is currently growing at a rate of 1.48% per year. The population growth rate has decreased from 1.66% in 2016 to 1.48%, a trend that is expected to continue until 2070 when the population growth rate will dip into the negatives.

The current fertility rate in Uzbekistan is 2.43 births per woman and the median age is 27.8 years, allowing the population to continue to grow. While the fertility rate is high enough for population replacement now, it is less than half of what it was in 1980 when the fertility rate was 5.46 births per woman. This declining fertility rate trend is expected to continue over time.

Uzbekistan Area and Population Density

Uzbekistan's population of 35,603,443 makes it the 41th largest country in the world and the third largest of the former Soviet states - behind Russia (145 million) and Ukraine (41 million). The area of the country is 173,351 square miles (448,962 square kilometers), giving it a population density of 205.38 people per square mile (79.3 people per square kilometer).

It is the largest country in Central Asia, comprising over 40% of the region's overall population. Other countries in the region are: Kazakhstan (pop: 16.6 million), Kyrgyzstan (pop: 5.6 million), Tajikistan (pop: 8.4 million) and Turkmenistan (pop: 5.3 million).

Largest Cities in Uzbekistan

The largest city in Uzbekistan is Taskent, the capital city. The latest available estimate - from 2009 - showed the Tashkent population to be 2.2 million, an increase of more than 700,000 since independence in 1991. Unofficial estimates place the city’s population much higher, though - some argue that it is actually home to 4 million people, many of whom have not got proper registration papers and are reluctant to respond to official surveys.

Other major cities in Uzbekistan are Namangan (pop: around 415,000), Samarkand (pop: around 364,000) and Andijan (pop: around 323,900).

You can see from the map above (it’s a worldmapper map that shows a slightly distorted image based on population density) that the Uzbekistan population is most dense in the east of the country, around its major cities.

This figure is an estimate of the figures for 1 January 2014, and is provided by stat.uz, the country’s official statistical body. Their data is based on sampling 10% of the population, rather than undertaking a traditional census - the last full census to cover Uzbekistan was the 1989 Soviet Census. Other estimates of Uzbekistan’s population are available, notably from the CIA World Factbook. It estimated that Uzbekistan’s population in July 2011 was 28,394,180 - 700,000 lower than the official Government estimate.

Uzbekistan Demographics

The latest data available data on ethnicity in Uzbekistan is from 1996. It showed the following major ethnic groups in Uzbekistan: Uzbek (80%), Russian (5.5%), Tajik (3%), Karakalpak (2.5%), Tartar (1.5%), Other 2.5%). There is some dispute about these figures, however, and it is possible that the number of Tajiks in Uzbekistan is considerably higher.

Although not a large enough group to make the above list, there are also around 20,000 ethnic Koreans in Uzbekistan, descendants of the Koreans deported to Central Asia by Stalin.

Uzbekistan Religion, Economy and Politics

The main religion in Uzbekistan is Islam. Official figures are not available, but according to the US State Department, 88% of Uzbeks are Muslims and 9% are Orthodox Christians.

Again, official figures are not available, but the US State Department (see link above) reports that the Uzbek language is the first language of 74.3% of Uzbeks, followed by Russian (14.2%) and Tajik (4.4%).

Uzbek is the official state language, but Russian remains widely spoken and is a second language for many in the country. Tajik language speakers are concentrated in ethnically Tajik areas, particularly in Samarkand and Bukhara.

Uzbekistan Population History

At the beginning of the 19th century, there were roughly 2000 miles of unmapped territory between Tsarist Russia, and British India. Russia jumped on this opportunity for expanded domination and by the turn of the 20th century, Uzbekistan was under Russian control. Uzbekistan soldiers fought on both sides during World War II (the majority fought against Nazi Germany), and roughly 300,000 were either killed or went missing.

Uzbekistan declared its independence from Russia in 1990 and it has been a sovereign nation ever since.