The international reserves of the Republic of Uzbekistan welcomed the autumn of 2026 with absolute historical records. According to official statistical data, as of September 1, 2026, the country's official reserve assets reached $72 billion 134.9 million. This figure represents a colossal increase of nearly $7.8 billion compared to the previous month's result of $64 billion 347.0 million on August 1. When comparing these figures with a longer historical period, the dynamic appears even more astonishing: on January 1, 2024, the volume of reserves stood at a mere $34 billion 564.6 million. In less than three years, the state's total reserves have practically doubled. Such a sharp jump in August is primarily directly linked to the conditions on external markets, in particular, the rapid rise in prices for precious metals.
Within the structure of international reserves, the share of gold is achieving an increasingly absolute dominance. As of September 1, 2026, the value of monetary gold held by the Central Bank amounted to an unprecedented $64 billion 928.5 million. By comparison, a month earlier, this indicator was equal to $56 billion 122.3 million. The main driver of this fantastic growth was the appreciation of gold on the global market. A note in the official document states that specifically during August, the price of gold surged from $4052.20 to $4602.00 per troy ounce. Due solely to the price factor, the value of the reserves increased by an additional $7.8 billion.
The growth occurred not only due to the price increase but also because the physical volume of gold reserves expanded rapidly. The volume of pure gold, which stood at 13.85 million troy ounces on August 1, 2026, reached 14.11 million troy ounces by September 1. At the beginning of 2024, the country held 11.94 million troy ounces of gold in its reserves. These differences clearly demonstrate that the Central Bank continues to relentlessly purchase the precious metal from the domestic market, having chosen a strategy of strengthening national reserves primarily through gold.
As rapidly as gold reserves are growing, assets in foreign currency (freely convertible foreign currencies) are noticeably declining. Specifically, foreign exchange reserves, which amounted to $7 billion 652.3 million on August 1, 2026, shrank by nearly $1 billion within a month, falling to $6 billion 635.4 million as of September 1. In January 2024, this indicator was at the level of $9 billion 369.5 million. As of September, the bulk of foreign exchange reserves ($4 billion 869.8 million) is accounted for by cash currency and deposits in foreign banks. The volume of foreign exchange reserves in the form of securities amounted to $1 billion 765.5 million.
The volume of special drawing rights (SDRs) in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has maintained considerable stability over the years. On September 1, 2026, this indicator stood at $570.9 million (compared to $572.4 million on August 1 and $562.9 million at the beginning of 2024). At the same time, other assets in foreign currency not included in official reserve assets were also recorded at $128.6 million. The main part of this amount consists of gold ($93.7 million) and deposits ($34.8 million) not included in official reserves.
As of September 1, 2026, the main and decisive driver of Uzbekistan's massive $72.1 billion international reserves remains the price of gold on the world market and the Central Bank's policy of continuous purchase of this metal. The fact that nearly 90 percent ($64.9 billion) of the reserve structure depends on a single type of asset, on the one hand, provides strong protection against global inflation, currency fluctuations, and geopolitical sanctions, but on the other hand, indicates a low level of portfolio diversification. Should the price of gold undergo a sharp correction and plummet on the global financial market, the country's total reserve volume could be at risk of rapid contraction. Nevertheless, the presence of more than 14.1 million troy ounces of physical gold serves as an ultra-reliable safety cushion to ensure Uzbekistan's macroeconomic stability, support its credit ratings in the international arena, and mitigate unexpected external shocks.
