In the first four months of 2025, Kyrgyzstan’s total foreign and mutual trade volume amounted to $4.59 billion, marking an 11.7% decrease compared to the same period last year, Akchabar.kg reports, citing the National Statistics Committee.
The decline was driven primarily by a 12.3% drop in imports, which totaled $3.86 billion. Exports also fell by 8.2%, down to $730.3 million.
Against the backdrop of this overall decline, trade with CIS countries saw growth - from $1.69 billion in January–April 2024 to $1.78 billion over the same period in 2025. The EAEU member states remain Kyrgyzstan’s key trading partners, accounting for a significant share of the country’s foreign trade.
In contrast, trade with European countries fell sharply - by nearly 25%. In 2024, trade with Europe stood at $519.7 million, but by 2025 it had dropped to $389.3 million.
Meanwhile, trade between Kyrgyzstan and China has surged significantly.
As of April 2025, trade turnover between the two countries reached $6.05 billion for the January–March period - an increase of 44.7% compared to the first quarter of 2024.
Notably, Kyrgyz exports to China saw a dramatic rise, reaching $2.04 billion—a 93-fold increase compared to the same period last year.
Analysts attribute this rapid growth to the launch of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway construction and the opening of the Bedel border crossing—Kyrgyzstan’s third checkpoint with China - in 2024.
Experts believe Kyrgyzstan’s foreign trade structure is undergoing a transformation: the country is strengthening economic ties with CIS partners and China, while interest from European markets appears to be declining.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
June 16, 2025