Tashkent: It appears that Uzbek government efforts to reorient labor migration patterns is starting to pay dividends. The volume of remittances from Europe and South Korea have experienced sharp increases during the first nine months of 2024.

According to a report published by Gazeta.uz, the overall amount of money transfers in Uzbekistan totaled $11.62 billion during the January-September period this year, an approximately 28 percent jump over 2023’s figure of $8.4 billion during the same timeframe. The highest transfer month was July, when $1.78 billion flowed back to Uzbekistan, according to Central Bank data. Labor migrant remittances are responsible for the overwhelming share of wire transfers in Uzbekistan.

Earlier in 2024, the Uzbek government began implementation of a strategy that, over the long term, seeks to reorient Uzbek labor migrants away from Russia, where many are engaged in menial jobs in construction, transport and other sectors, to higher-skilled positions in Europe, the Gulf and South Korea. Key elements of the strategy include job training and placement programs.

In addition, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s administration is looking to negotiate labor-migration agreements with industrialized states, replicating a deal signed in September with Germany.

Russia remains the primary destination for most Uzbek labor migrants. Accordingly, the bulk of remittances sent back to Uzbekistan continue to come from Russia – $8.75 billion so far in 2024. But that figure represents a modest decrease in Russia’s overall share of remittances this year. Meanwhile, the Central Bank reported that remittances from South Korea grew 76 percent in 2024 over the same period the previous year, reaching $420 million, remittances from Poland rose more than two-fold, reaching $48 million and transfers from the United Kingdom increased 49 percent, totaling $93 million.