Average monthly electricity and natural gas use per household customer in Uzbekistan fell between 2023 and 2025 after tariffs were raised, a deputy minister of economy and finance said on October 14.
Khurshid Mustafayev told a press conference that monthly electricity consumption per customer dropped from 212 kWh in 2023 to 184 kWh in 2025, a decline of 28 kWh, or about 13%. Gas consumption fell from 431 to 342 cubic meters per customer over the same period, down 89 cubic meters, or almost 21%.
“As a result of timely tariff reforms, people are gradually coming to understand this and are shifting toward saving and energy efficiency,” Mustafayev said. “We believe this is a very positive trend.”
Jamshid Abruev, deputy director of the National Agency for Social Protection, told the same event that the government moved from tariff subsidies to targeted support because the old system disproportionately benefited wealthier households.
Abruev said household tariffs had been frozen for several years despite rising energy costs, with the state budget and energy companies covering the gap. The arrangement helped all consumers during the coronavirus pandemic and the economic recovery that followed, he said, but it later emerged that high-consumption households gained most.
“Customers who consume more than 200 kWh of electricity make up 30% of the total, yet they account for 71% of all electricity consumed,” Abruev said. “In other words, more of the subsidies were going to higher-income households.”
Authorities therefore decided to move gradually to differentiated tariffs and targeted compensation for families in need, he said. Low-income households receive compensation for the difference between base and higher tariffs on additional electricity and gas. About 470,000 families have used the support over the past year and a half, with 156 billion soums allocated, Abruev said.
Base consumption norms and volume-based tariffs were implemented on May 1, 2024. The electricity norm is 200 kWh a month. The gas norm is 500 cubic meters in the heating season and 100 cubic meters in other months.
Tariffs were revised again on June 1, 2026. For most household consumers, electricity costs 650 soums per kWh up to 200 kWh and 900 soums per kWh from 201 to 500 kWh. Gas within the base norm costs 1,100 soums per cubic meter.
