The agency said Russia continues to expand gas exports to Uzbekistan via Kazakhstan using the Central Asia–Center trunk pipeline system.
The increase in imports comes as Uzbekistan's domestic natural gas production continues to decline. According to the IEA, the country's gas output fell by 14%, or 2.6 billion cubic meters, in January–May 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier.
The agency attributed the decline to the decreasing ability of existing gas fields to maintain previous production levels.
Data from the National Statistics Committee show that the value of gas imported from Russia and Turkmenistan fell by 1.2% in 2025 to $1.66 billion. At the same time, the physical volume of Russian gas imports increased by 14.9%, rising from 5.64 billion cubic meters to 6.48 billion cubic meters.
The IEA also forecasts that natural gas production across Eurasia, including Uzbekistan, will increase by 2% in 2026, driven primarily by higher output in Russia. Even so, regional production is expected to remain 9% below 2021 levels.
Natural gas demand across the region is projected to grow by nearly 3% this year.
