MOSCOW, August 19. /Dunyo IA/. Uzbekistan welcomed 7.7 million tourists in the first half of the year, reports Dunyo IA correspondent, citing the Russian news agency “Turprom”.

According to Uzbekistan’s National Statistics Committee, 7.749 million foreign citizens visited the country during the first seven months of 2026. This is 1.4 million more than during the same period last year, confirming Uzbekistan’s status as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Central Asia.

Neighboring countries continue to account for the largest share of visitors. Kyrgyzstan ranked first, with 2.17 million visits, followed by Kazakhstan with 1.855 million and Tajikistan with 1.728 million. In July, however, tourists from Kazakhstan surpassed those from Kyrgyzstan in terms of the number of visits, indicating the high mobility of the region’s population during the peak summer season.

Russia also remains a significant source of visitors, with more than 710,000 visits recorded during the first seven months, including over 125,000 in July alone.

“Uzbekistan is actively expanding its tourism potential, attracting not only visitors from neighboring countries but also tourists from farther abroad. Interest from China is particularly notable: 269,700 Chinese tourists visited the country during the first seven months, nearly matching the figure recorded for the whole of 2025”, - analysts noted.

The top ten countries by number of visits also included Afghanistan with 281,200, Turkmenistan with 192,800, Türkiye with 111,900, as well as India and South Korea.