Uzbekistan's factoring market grows 75% in Q1 2026 — central bank data

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan's credit institutions provided 2.3 trillion soums in factoring services in the first quarter of 2026, exceeding the year-earlier figure by 75 percent, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan's quarterly factoring market review. In March 2026 alone, monthly volume reached 798 billion soums, up 18 percent from March 2025, reflecting a sustained shift by Uzbek businesses toward factoring as a working capital management tool.

Market structure: banks dominate, MFOs occupy a niche

Commercial banks accounted for 94 percent of total factoring volume, or 2.1 trillion soums, while microfinance organizations provided the remaining 6 percent, or 125 billion soums. Within the banking segment, state-owned and private banks were nearly evenly matched: state-affiliated banks provided 1 trillion soums, or 49.9 percent, while private banks accounted for 1.1 trillion soums, or 50.1 percent.

Among commercial banks, Hamkorbank recorded the highest factoring volume — 314 billion soums in total, of which 138 billion soums was processed through electronic platforms. Asakabank followed with 275 billion soums, and Uzmilliybank with 273 billion soums.

Classic and reverse factoring: a 65-to-35 split

In terms of product structure, classic factoring operations accounted for 65 percent of the market: 1.3 trillion soums with recourse and 165 billion soums without recourse. Reverse factoring represented 35 percent of the market, or 796 billion soums.

Digital factoring: more than half the market

A defining feature of the first quarter was the dominance of digital service delivery. The Central Bank recorded that 1.2 trillion soums, or 53 percent of total factoring volume, was processed through electronic platforms. Of that figure, 627 billion soums, or 52 percent of the digital segment, was handled via the Ozplanet platform, with the remaining 571 billion soums, or 48 percent, processed through Finmakon.

The regulator also noted that commercial banks are actively promoting factoring as an alternative short-term financing instrument. As a result, factoring's share of short-term financing rose to 11.1 percent in January 2026 from 4.5 percent in January 2025, to 11.6 percent in February from 6.7 percent, and to 9.4 percent in March from 9.1 percent.

Regional breakdown: Tashkent concentrates nearly half the market

Geographically, nearly half of all factoring activity was concentrated in the capital: Tashkent accounted for 1.1 trillion soums, or 48 percent of the national total. Namangan region ranked second with 228 billion soums, or 10.1 percent, followed by Tashkent region with 224 billion soums (9.9 percent) and Bukhara region with 204 billion soums (9 percent). The lowest penetration was recorded in Kashkadarya region with 23 billion soums, the Republic of Karakalpakstan with 19 billion soums, and Jizzakh region with 14 billion soums, pointing to significant potential for geographic expansion.

Client base: LLCs account for 97.8 percent of the market

By legal form, limited liability companies dominated the client base, receiving 2.2 trillion soums, or 97.8 percent of total factoring services. Private and family enterprises, along with farming operations, used factoring to finance receivables totaling 27 billion soums (1.2 percent), while foreign-owned enterprises accounted for 24 billion soums (1.1 percent).

By annual turnover, large enterprises with revenues exceeding 100 billion soums were the primary users, accounting for 77 percent of the market, or 1.739 trillion soums. Businesses with turnover of 10 to 100 billion soums received 448 billion soums in factoring services (20 percent), and those with turnover of 1 to 10 billion soums received 62 billion soums (3 percent). The smallest segment — entities with annual turnover below 1 billion soums — represented just 0.4 percent of the market, underscoring the significant untapped potential for extending factoring access to small businesses.

Tenors and deal sizes: mid-term transactions and large volumes prevail

By transaction tenor, operations with terms of 61 to 90 days were the most prevalent, accounting for 45 percent of the market, or 1.016 trillion soums. Transactions of up to 30 days and 31 to 60 days represented 17 and 16 percent respectively, while the 121-to-180-day tenor accounted for a further 16 percent. By deal size, 61 percent of the market — 1.377 trillion soums — consisted of transactions exceeding 5 billion soums. Deals in the 1-to-5-billion-soum range accounted for 30 percent, the 500-million-to-1-billion range for 6 percent, and the 100-to-500-million range for 3 percent.

Sectoral breakdown: trade and industry lead

By economic sector, trade and services were the primary consumers of factoring finance, accounting for 1.2 trillion soums, or 53 percent of the market. Industry ranked second with 868 billion soums (38 percent). Construction received 98 billion soums (4 percent) and agriculture 105 billion soums (5 percent).

International factoring: volume up 41-fold

The most striking growth was recorded in the international factoring segment. Commercial banks provided cross-border factoring services with recourse equivalent to 190 billion soums in the first quarter of 2026 — 41 times more than the 4.6 billion soums recorded in the same period of 2025. The share of international factoring in total volume reached 8 percent.

Mikrokreditbank led the segment with 7.1 million dollars, or 46 percent of international factoring volume, followed by Asakabank with 3.7 million dollars (23 percent) and Kapitalbank with 2.2 million dollars (14 percent). Orient Finans Bank processed 1.9 million dollars (12 percent), Ipak Yuli Bank handled 292,000 dollars and 46,000 euros (2.2 percent), Uzmilliybank 1.5 million yuan (1.3 percent), and Biznesni Rivojlantirish Bank 129,000 dollars (0.8 percent). Notably, Asia-Invest Bank conducted international factoring operations for exporters equivalent to 45 billion soums under agency agreements with Uzmilliybank, Asakabank, Hamkorbank, Invest Finans Bank, and Agrobank, of which 2.4 million dollars and 100.3 million rubles passed directly through those agency arrangements.

International factoring geography: UAE and Russia lead

By destination, the UAE accounted for the largest share of international factoring — 73.3 billion soums, or 39 percent — followed by Russia with 65.4 billion soums, or 34 percent. Tajikistan ranked third with 18.2 billion soums (9.6 percent), Kazakhstan fourth with 12.2 billion soums (6.4 percent), and Turkey fifth with 10.6 billion soums (5.6 percent). Kyrgyzstan accounted for 3 billion soums (1.6 percent), Afghanistan for 2.7 billion soums (1.4 percent), China for 2.5 billion soums (1.3 percent), the United States for 1.6 billion soums (0.8 percent), and Switzerland and Poland for 0.3 billion soums each (0.2 percent each). By sector, international factoring was split between trade and services with 98 billion soums (52 percent) and industry with 92 billion soums (48 percent).

Discount rates

The Central Bank disclosed the discount rates applied by banks on factoring products with tenors of up to 180 days. For domestic factoring, monthly rates range from 1.5–2 percent at Asakabank to 3.3 percent at Garantbank. International factoring rates are generally lower, ranging from 0.8 percent at ZiraatBank to 2.5 percent at several other institutions. Among microfinance organizations, factoring rates range from 2.5 percent at Fincom Invest to 4 percent at Fast Finans. As of April 2026, a number of banks had yet to launch factoring services, including TBC Bank, Madad Invest Bank, KDB Bank Uzbekistan, Uzum Bank, Hayot Bank, AVO Bank, Bank Saderat Toshkent, Openbank, and Octobank.