Transformation of the Social Structure in A Renewing Uzbekistan

Since the launch of wide-ranging political and economic reforms in 2017, Uzbekistan has been experiencing one of the most rapid social restructurings in post-Soviet Eurasia. Accelerated GDP growth (6.5 % in 2024), steady poverty reduction (national rate down from 17 % in 2021 to 11 % in 2023), and ambitious gender-equality legislation are simultaneously eroding Soviet-era hierarchies and giving rise to a more diversified class system. This article analyses the drivers, manifestations, and contradictions of that transformation, drawing on the latest data from the World Bank, IOM, and domestic statistical releases.