Over the first nine months, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan has valued at more than US$9.1 million, which is 13.5 percent more than in the same period last year, according to the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan.
This reportedly consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Kyrgyzstan estimated at only about US$650,000 (little more than 7.0 percent) and Tajikistan’s imports from Kyrgyzstan worth about US$8.5 million (almost 93 percent).
Over the reporting period, the trade with Kyrgyzstan has accounted for only 0.1% of Tajikistan’s total foreign trade turnover, which has totaled approximately US$6.5 billion over the same-nine month period.
The border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan has been the scene of unrest repeatedly since the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The countries share 987 kilometers of border and unresolved border issues have led to tensions for the past 30 years. Tensions between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have remained high until recently, owing to a border dispute, as well as other issues involving irrigation, smuggling, and illegal border crossings.
This dispute has led to clashes between the two countries. Kyrgyzstan unilaterally closed the border with Tajikistan in spring 2021 after an armed conflict along a disputed segment of the border left 36 Kyrgyz nationals, including two children.
When the border closed, official trade turnover practically plummeted to nothing. Over three years, the bilateral trade between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan dropped more than threefold—from US$37 million in 2020 to US$12 million in 2023.
Tajikistan primarily exports cotton yarn, Portland cement, aluminum rods, and stone fruits to Kyrgyzstan, while Kyrgyzstan exports oil products, frosted glass, coal and briquettes, cement, and other goods to Tajikistan.
