Uzbekistan IT Market 2026: Key Figures and Analysis

August 2026 was one of the busiest months on record for Uzbekistan's technology sector. Tashkent hosted the International Olympiad in Informatics, IT Park announced new record figures, and the country began positioning itself inside global artificial intelligence initiatives. Below are the key numbers and what they mean in practice for local business.

IT Park: foreign capital and export geography

As of 1 August 2026, the number of IT Park resident companies with foreign capital reached 1,112. In June alone, 82 new foreign companies registered — a monthly record.

1,112 — resident companies with foreign capital
4,000+ — jobs created through the incentive scheme
$43M — export volume under the programme
1,050 — exporting resident companies in H1 2026
102 — countries served with exported services

The geography is equally telling: 54% of services went to North America, 17% to the EU and the UK, and 22% to CIS and Asia-Pacific markets. Global players including EPAM, VEON, Plug and Play and Techstars now operate in Tashkent.

IOI 2026 and the talent question

The 38th International Olympiad in Informatics ran in Tashkent from 9 to 16 August. It brought together 386 secondary-school students from more than 97 countries, along with over 900 international delegates. It was the country's first time hosting the event and a clear signal of its focus on IT education.

According to the Ministry of Digital Technologies, the One Million Uzbek Coders initiative, run in partnership with the UAE, has recorded more than 2.5 million registrations. A wider talent pool affects both the outsourcing market and local product companies directly.

Startup ecosystem: Country of the Year

StartupBlink named Uzbekistan Country of the Year in its Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026, citing a 227% growth rate. At the same time, the country produced its first two technology companies valued above one billion dollars.

Artificial intelligence and international cooperation

In late August, Uzbekistan submitted a formal request to join Pax Silica, the United States initiative on artificial intelligence supply chains. A month earlier it had joined China's World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. In practice, this means the country is trying to work with both major technology blocs at once.

Tashkent also hosted the first Silk Road Finance and Technology Forum from 24 to 26 August, co-organised by the Central Bank and the Global Finance and Technology Network. The agenda covered payment infrastructure, tokenisation, cybersecurity and digital assets.

What this means for local business

The statistics look strong, but the real question is different: what does a mid-sized business in Samarkand or Tashkent get out of this growth? A few practical conclusions:

Competition is rising. Incoming foreign companies raise the quality bar customers expect. An outdated website or manual reporting no longer counts as good enough.
Talent is getting expensive. Export-focused companies pay in dollars. For businesses serving the domestic market, outsourcing is often cheaper than maintaining an in-house IT department.
Integration standards are forming. Connecting to payment systems, electronic document flow and tax reporting is becoming a requirement rather than an option.
The export route is open. Serving 102 countries is already a proven model. The barrier to taking a local product abroad is organisational more than technical.

Conclusion

2026 is shaping up as the year Uzbekistan's IT sector moves from growth to maturity. The figures show a country turning from a technology consumer into an exporter of digital services. For business, the question is no longer whether to digitise, but how fast and at what quality.

Webz is based in Samarkand and builds corporate websites, ERP and CRM systems, and mobile applications. Get in touch to discuss your project.