There has been a sharp increase in imports of palm dates to Uzbekistan in the recent years. From 2017 to 2022 Uzbekistan increased date imports from 825 tons to 8.7 thousand tons, i.e. more than 10 times Considering that this product is not produced in Uzbekistan, its re-exports are negligible – all imports represent the volume of consumption.
According to EastFruit analysts, from 60% to 75% of the annual consumption of dates in Uzbekistan occurs in 1/12 of the calendar year – the month of Ramadan. Consequently, such an impressive increase in date consumption is associated with two factors – a sharp reduction in the import duty on this product and a similar growth rate in the number of Uzbek citizens fasting during the month of Ramadan, according to EastFruit experts.
Annual import volumes and consumption of dates in the month of Ramadan
Until 2017 inclusive, the annual volume of imports and consumption of dates in Uzbekistan did not exceed 900 tons. But, starting in 2018, the volume of imports of this product began to grow. Moreover, a sharp jump is observed in 2021, when the imports of dates to Uzbekistan increased by 3.3 times compared to the previous year.