The coronavirus pandemic hit Tajikistan when its economy and livelihoods were already fragile following several economic disruptions in the past decade. The economic implications of the COVID-19 outbreak became apparent soon after the first cases were officially declared, and businesses and vulnerable population groups have been on the front lines ever since. The impact of the pandemic on lives and the health system has been unprecedented in Tajikistan’s post-civil war history. With individuals being furloughed or laid off completely, and businesses experiencing a significant decline in scale, sales and incomes, many people and entrepreneurs have been put under severe stress.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-10 outbreak, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in coordination with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and other development partners has commissioned a fairly comprehensive assessment of the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on lives, livelihoods and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Tajikistan. The assessment is based on the analysis of primary and secondary data, supported by the survey of households (HHs) and the survey of MSMEs in four pre-selected economic sectors. The sample size for HHs is 1,000 and for MSMEs is 700, complemented by in-depth interviews (150 HHs, including 100 women and girls and 100 youth, and 50 MSMEs). It should be noted that limitations of phone interviewing method, sensitivity of some of the questions and inevitably different units used in the survey sometimes complicated aggregation.