Last year, Uzbekistan's shadow economy accounted for over one-third of the country's GDP.

According to the statistics agency under the President of Uzbekistan, the informal economy accounted for 383.64 trillion sums, which is equivalent to 26.4% of GDP, while the shadow sector made up 122 trillion sums (8.4% of GDP).

In the structure of the hidden economy, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries lead with a share of 63.6%, followed by construction (41.3%) and the service sector (40.1%). The industrial sector occupies only 8.9%.

Unobserved economy refers to types of economic activities that are either completely or partially excluded from regular statistical observations and are assessed using indirect methods. This term encompasses both the informal and shadow economies.

Informal economy includes economic or business activities related to the production of goods or provision of services carried out by households or individuals without proper registration.

Shadow economy refers to economic activities that are not prohibited by law but are deliberately concealed from government authorities in order to evade taxes and violate legal norms.

It is worth noting that last year, the volume of the shadow economy for the previous year, 2023, was estimated at 8.35% of the country's total GDP.