THE IMPACT OF INFLATION ON THE REAL INCOME OF THE POPULATION IN UZBEKISTAN

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between inflation and the real income of the population in the Republic of Uzbekistan over the period 2021-2025. Using official statistics published by the Statistics Agency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, and the World Bank, the study applies descriptive and comparative statistical methods to trace how consumer price growth has interacted with nominal wage growth, per-capita income, and household purchasing power. The results show that although nominal incomes in Uzbekistan grew rapidly (17-18% annually in 2024-2025), high and persistent inflation - which peaked at 12.25% in 2022 and remained above 8% through 2025 - eroded a substantial share of these nominal gains, leaving real income growth considerably lower (5.9-9.5% per year) than nominal growth. The analysis further shows that inflation has been strongly concentrated in food, utility tariffs, and medicine, categories that make up a disproportionate share of the budgets of low-income households, implying that the burden of inflation is distributed unevenly across the population. The article concludes that, despite positive real income dynamics at the aggregate level, targeted social protection measures and price stabilization policies remain necessary to protect the purchasing power of vulnerable groups.