Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country; 11% of the land is intensely cultivated, in irrigated river valleys. More than 60% of the population lives in densely populated rural communities. Export of hydrocarbons, primarily natural gas, provided about 40% of foreign exchange earnings in 2009. Other major export earners include gold and cotton. Uzbekistan is now the world's second-largest cotton exporter and fifth largest producer; it has come under increasing international criticism for the use of child labor in its annual cotton harvest. Uzbekistan enjoyed a bumper cotton crop in 2010 amidst record high prices, but is gradually diversifying away from cotton toward more high-value fruits and vegetables. Following independence in September 1991, the government sought to prop up its Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight controls on production and prices. While aware of the need to improve the investment climate, the government still sponsors measures that often increase, not decrease, its control over business decisions. A sharp increase in the inequality of income distribution has hurt the lower ranks of society since independence. In 2003, the government accepted Article VIII obligations under the IMF, providing for full currency convertibility. However, strict currency controls and tightening of borders have lessened the effects of convertibility and have also led to some shortages that have further stifled economic activity. The Central Bank often delays or restricts convertibility, especially for consumer goods. Uzbekistan has posted GDP growth of over 8% for the past several years, driven primarily by rising world prices for its main export commodities - natural gas, cotton and gold - and some industrial growth. In 2006, Uzbekistan took steps to rejoin the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Community (EurASEC), which it subsequently left in 2008, both organizations dominated by Russia. In the past Uzbekistani authorities have accused US and other foreign companies operating in Uzbekistan of violating Uzbekistani tax laws and have frozen their assets, with several new expropriations in 2010-11. At the same time, the Uzbekistani Government has actively courted several major US and international corporations, offering attractive financing and tax advantages, and has landed a significant US investment in the automotive industry, including the opening of a powertrain manufacturing facility in Tashkent in November, 2011. Uzbekistan has seen few effects from the global economic downturn, primarily due to its relative isolation from the global financial markets.

Officially measured by the Ministry of Labor, plus another 20% underemployed

Official data; based on independent analysis of consumer prices, inflation reached 22% in 2011

$5.073 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$4.321 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$8.31 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$7.197 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$6.906 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$5.995 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$715.3 million (31 December 2006)

Cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain; livestock

Textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, mining, hydrocarbon extraction, chemicals

594 million bbl (1 January 2011 est.)

1.841 trillion cu m (1 January 2011 est.)

Energy products, cotton, gold, mineral fertilizers, ferrous and nonferrous metals, textiles, food products, machinery, automobiles

Russia 20.9%, Turkey 17.1%, China 14.7%, Kazakhstan 10.3%, Bangladesh 8.7% (2011)

Machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, ferrous and nonferrous metals

Russia 21.4%, South Korea 19.1%, China 15.1%, Germany 7.4%, Kazakhstan 5.6% (2011)

$15 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$12.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$8.57 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$7.404 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

Uzbekistani soum (UZS) per US dollar -