Uzbekistan’s Population has Nearly Doubled Since 1989, First Post-Soviet Census There Shows

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 1 – Since the end of Soviet times, the population of Uzbekistan has nearly doubled from 19.98 million in 1989 to 39 million now, according to the results of the first, much-delayed and just-completed post-Soviet census, allowing Astana to correct upward by more than 200,000 the figures it had been using.

            Over the intervening years, the share of ethnic Uzbeks in the population of that Central Asian country has risen from 71 percent to 89.4 percent, with 91.3 percent now saying that Uzbek is their native language (podrobno.uz/cat/obchestvo/v-uzbekistane-oglasili-pervye-itogi-perepisi-naseleniya-zhiteley-strany-stalo-bolee-39-millionov/).

            Other figures of particular importance include that more than 38 percent of that country’s population is under the age of 30 and that there are slightly more men than women, an unusual pattern in the post-Soviet space and that more than half of its residents now live in cities.  

            More details are slated to be released soon, but even these permit three important conclusions: first, Uzbekistan’s population will continue to grow rapidly despite a small decline in fertility; second, that country will be increasingly monoethnic, with the role of minorities ever smaller; and third, it will have to deal with rapid urbanization.