In addition to high global prices for gold and cotton, the current-account surplus was also boosted in 2010 by a significant recovery in remittance inflows from Uzbek workers abroad, largely in Russia. The Uzbek authorities do not publish data on remittance flows, but according to figures from the Russian Central Bank (RCB), remittance transfers from Russia to Uzbekistan exceeded those to any other country in 2010. According to the RCB, remittances to Uzbekistan in 2010 amounted to US$2.85bn, or 22% of total remittance outflows from Russia. Remittances to Uzbekistan increased by 38.6% compared with 2009, but remained below the peak of US$3bn reached in 2008. The average amount of each individual transfer, which was US$584, was slightly higher than the US$574 recorded in 2009, but also remained below the peak of US$760 seen in 2008.

The economy is less reliant on remittances than its neighbours Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. Remittances from Russia to Uzbekistan amounted to 7.3% of Uzbekistan's GDP in 2010, compared with figures of 24.6% and 40.7% for the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, respectively. Inflows per head are also much lower, amounting to just US$100 in Uzbekistan in 2010, compared with US$203 in the Kyrgyz Republic and US$288 in Tajikistan. However, the figures highlight the fact that Uzbekistan is a significant exporter of labour, as well as commodities, and that remittances are buttressing the balance-of-payments position. Net inflows of remittances from Russia in 2010, at US$2.7bn, were equivalent to 41% of the estimated current-account surplus of US$6.6bn in that year, and to 21% of revenue from goods exports.