In 2024, Tajikistan significantly increased food imports, including wheat, rice, potatoes, fruits, dairy products, and meat, despite the growth of domestic production for many of these products.
According to data from the Committee on Food Security under the Government of Tajikistan presented at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 29, wheat imports reached 1.1 million tons, which is 41,000 tons more than in 2023.
At the same time, wheat production, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, also increased in Tajikistan by 2.4%, reaching 880,700 tons.
A similar situation is observed with rice: despite an annual domestic production of about 150,000 tons, rice imports increased by 6,800 tons, totaling 41,200 tons.
The most notable increase was in potato imports, which grew by 7,700 tons, reaching 56,800 tons. This comes despite domestic potato production also rising by 10.4%, surpassing 1.2 million tons.
The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade had previously forecasted that domestic production would be sufficient to meet the population's needs.
Fruit imports over the first half of 2024 rose by 19,700 tons, reaching 67,000 tons, even as domestic harvests grew by 24%, totaling 825,000 tons.
A similar trend is seen in the dairy sector: while milk production increased by 5.3%, dairy imports also rose by 2,300 tons, reaching 14,000 tons.
Meat imports saw a substantial increase of 6,000 tons, totaling 15,700 tons, while sugar imports rose by 20,000 tons, reaching 153,000 tons.
