The Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan has published a review dedicated to the state of the gold bar market as of the end of 2025, the dynamics of demand for this instrument, and trends in the development of related operations.
According to the review, interest in safe-haven assets has been growing in recent years amid heightened geopolitical tensions, global economic uncertainty, and high volatility in financial markets. In this environment, gold has increasingly emerged as an important instrument for savings and asset diversification for both households and investors. Against this backdrop, demand for gold bars has also increased significantly in Uzbekistan.
According to the data, from November 2020 to December 30, 2025, a total of 65,150 gold bars with a combined weight of 1.2 tonnes were sold to the public through banks. During this period, the number of banks carrying out these operations increased from 12 to 19, while the number of sales outlets expanded from 34 to 170. This indicates a gradual increase in public interest in this financial instrument.
In particular, demand for gold bars accelerated further in 2025, with banks selling 661 kg, or 33,939 gold bars, over the course of the year. This figure exceeded the total volume of sales recorded in 2020–2024 combined. Specifically, the 2025 sales volume was 18.4 percent higher by weight and 8.7 percent higher by number than the cumulative figures registered in 2020–2024. By comparison, sales volume amounted to 236 kg in 2024.
The analysis shows that 5-gram and 10-gram gold bars were particularly popular among the public, accounting for more than 60 percent of total sales. This suggests that relatively compact bars are increasingly becoming a convenient and affordable savings instrument for households. In addition, 100-gram gold bars were introduced into circulation starting from 2025.
Gold bars are issued in special protective packaging. They are equipped with modern security features such as QR codes, cryptoprint, and serial numbers, which make it possible to verify the authenticity of each bar and ensure its identification. This approach contributes to greater transparency of operations and helps strengthen public confidence.
In addition, during 2020–2025, banks repurchased 11,828 gold bars from the public, with a total weight of 201 kg. Among the repurchased bars, 5-gram and 10-gram bars also accounted for the largest share.
The review also highlights innovations introduced to improve operations involving gold bars. In particular, new mechanisms were introduced in 2025 to enable the sale, buyback, and storage of gold through banks’ mobile applications. In addition, electronic metal accounts made it possible to purchase gold starting from as little as 0.1 gram. Within the framework of this practice, banks formed gold deposits totaling 169.74 kg, valued at UZS 311.7 billion, in 2025.
The gold bar market plays an important role in expanding savings and investment opportunities for the population, developing the domestic precious metals market, and broadening the use of modern financial instruments. At the same time, gold is an asset that does not generate interest income, and its price is subject to fluctuations depending on conditions in the global market. Therefore, this review has been prepared for analytical and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
The full review is available here.
