From cotton fields to global markets: How Uzbekistan is building a textile industry

For decades, Uzbekistan’s cotton industry was primarily associated with the production and harvesting of raw cotton.

Now, the country is trying to capture more of the value generated from that crop at home, processing cotton into yarn, knitted fabrics and finished textile products for international markets

Uzbekistan exported about $2.3 billion worth of textile products between January and November 2025, accounting for 7.3 per cent of total exports. Finished textile products made up 52 per cent of those exports, followed by yarn at 28 per cent, knitted fabric at 11 per cent and fabrics at 6 per cent.

The scale of domestic production is also changing. In 2025, large enterprises in Uzbekistan produced 70,100 tonnes of knitted fabric, 32.5 per cent more than in 2024.

Fergana Global Textile is part of this broader shift. The Fergana facility, opened in August 2020, produces carded and blended yarn as well as dyed and printed knitted fabrics. Its production lines use equipment from companies including Rieter, Murata, USTER and Mayer & Cie.

The company says its wider production chain covers everything from cotton and spinning to knitting, dyeing and garment production. Its Fergana operation has created more than 1,500 jobs.

What makes Uzbek textiles distinctive?

Uzbekistan's textile industry is not starting from an entirely blank canvas. The country has longstanding traditions of silk and textile production, including the distinctive atlas and adras fabrics associated with Margilan.

Their production techniques were inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2023.

Traditional Uzbek textiles are particularly recognisable for their vivid colours and ikat-style patterns, created by dyeing threads before they are woven. UNESCO describes atlas and adras production as involving processes including spinning, dyeing and weaving by hand.

That heritage is separate from the mass production taking place at facilities such as Fergana Global Textile. Here, dyeing and printing are industrial processes. The company lists products including Single Jersey, Interlock, Ribana, Pique and Honeycomb knitted fabrics, with raw and reactive/disperse dyed options.

Where does the fabric go?

Uzbekistan's textile products were exported to 75 countries in 2025. Major markets included Russia, Türkiye, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, China, Germany and the United Arab Emirates.

The country also expanded into markets including Algeria, Angola, Greece and Kuwait with finished textiles, knitted fabrics and woven products.

Fergana Global Textile itself exported nearly $17 million worth of products to 14 countries in 2025, according to Uzbekistan's Technical Regulation Agency. The company produces yarn, knitted fabric and finished knitted products.

Speaking to AnewZ, Anvarjon Abdullayev, Mayor of Qo‘shtepa District, said the district has planted cotton across 6,400 hectares this year, with a target harvest of 33,000 tonnes. He said around 90 per cent of the district's cotton fields are expected to be harvested mechanically this year, with farmers preparing fields for machinery.

Moreover, starting this year, members of the farming households only prepare the fields for the cotton-picking machines by clearing the areas around them. Abdullayev claims that around 90 per cent of cotton fields will be harvested mechanically.

He also said that all production was being carried out in line with global labour standards saying, “There are absolutely no cases of forced labour or the involvement of children in cotton harvesting.”

The figures point to a broader transformation: Uzbekistan is not simply producing cotton for others to process. Increasingly, it is trying to process more of that raw material domestically and compete further along the textile supply chain, from fibre and yarn to fabric and finished products.

Read more: 

• From silk threads to modern fashion: How the city of Margilan is keeping Uzbekistan’s textile heritage alive
• Can Uzbekistan turn its grapes into a global brand?
• Uzbekistan $4.3 billion tech boom takes centre stage at ICTWEEK 2026

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