Less and Less Children Are Living in Poverty Here

Thanks to the successful implementation of a social protection system, Uzbekistan has seen a drastic decline in child poverty in two years, with the lowest child poverty rates in some regions of the country.

According to the Centre for Economic Research and Reforms and a report produced by the UN Children’s Fund, the Central Asian country saw a 7.8% decline, from 21.5% in 2021 to 13.7% in 2023.

Some 10.8 million individuals, including 9 million from low-income families, have received child allowances and material assistance, totalling $974.4 million in payments in 2023 alone. Based on data gathered from a household budget survey, which included over 16,000 families nationwide, poverty reduction is widely different from rural to urban areas. For instance, rural child poverty rates went from 24.6% to 14.5%, and the urban rates decreased from 18% to 13%. The social protection system plays a crucial role in poverty alleviation: without social transfers, overall poverty rates could increase from 11% to 20.8%, child poverty from 13.7% to 21.8%, and poor pensioners from 7.3% to 31.4%.