By Catherine Davis BBC Central Asia correspondent in Uzbekistan

Modern facades hide poverty

The lowly ranking was blamed by the Bank on slow and inconsistent economic reforms.

The Bank's report also noted that the Central Asian state ranked worse than 87% of the 175 countries in a global transparency survey.

Last month Uzbekistan again pledged to implement long-promised reforms by the end of the year.

Rising frustration

Uzbekistan is the most populous state in the region, geographically central and has always sought a dominant position politically.

What happens here has repercussions throughout Central Asia.

Reforms are slow in coming

Over the past year, Uzbekistan's weak economy has become an increasing source of concern, not only to the international community, but to the country's neighbours too.

In its report, the World Bank said Uzbekistan had since 1995 lagged behind all former Soviet states except Moldova in growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

According to the Bank, only Tajiks have lower incomes than Uzbeks, but Tajikistan suffered a five-year civil war.

The report also criticised what it called Uzbekistan's culture of secrecy.

What the Bank is urging Uzbekistan to reduce trade barriers, phase out central planning and create a more conducive business environment - reforms which have also been called for by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But this is a proud country. Uzbekistan has faced a barrage of high profile public criticism this year. It dislikes what its president calls lectures and has said it will choose the path best suited to its own traditions.