Uzbekistan Has the Highest Number of Stateless People in Central Asia

Uzbekistan leads Central Asia with 22,400 stateless individuals.

Since 2014, when the global IBelong initiative was launched to end statelessness, the number of stateless people in the region has decreased sevenfold. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of October 30, 2024, 34,200 people in Central Asia remain stateless, a sharp decline from 252,200 in 2014.

These figures were shared at a UNHCR briefing in Ashgabat, which focused on the issue of statelessness. Besides Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan also has a significant stateless population, with 7,400 individuals.

Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan have successfully eliminated statelessness within their borders.