The country imported mobile phones worth $1.898 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24, showing a 233 percent increase compared to $570.071 million in the fiscal year 2022-23.
In local currency, mobile phone imports amounted to Rs. 535.690 billion in 2023-24, marking a 291.45 percent growth compared to Rs. 136.847 billion in 2022-23.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), mobile phone imports in June 2024 rose by 76.77 percent month-on-month (MoM) to $278.574 million from $157.592 million in May 2024. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, June 2024 saw a 419.90 percent increase compared to $53.582 million in June 2023.
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Overall telecom imports for 2023-24 stood at $2.366 billion, a 147.36 percent increase from $956.696 million in 2022-23.
On a YoY basis, telecom imports grew by 232 percent, reaching $320.094 million in June 2024, compared to $96.415 million in June 2023. MoM, telecom imports increased by 51.28 percent in June 2024 from $211.586 million in May 2024.
Local manufacturing and assembling plants produced 13.08 million mobile handsets from January to May 2024, compared to 0.76 million imported commercially. In May alone, 2.23 million handsets were locally manufactured/assembled, versus 0.11 million imported commercially.
Of the 13.08 million locally produced handsets, 4.98 million were 2G and 8.1 million were smartphones. According to PTA data, 61 percent of mobile devices on Pakistan’s network are smartphones, while 39 percent are 2G. Local handset production declined by around four percent in 2023 due to import restrictions on mobile phone accessories caused by limitations on opening Letters of Credit (LCs).
Despite these restrictions, commercial imports of mobile handsets increased. Local manufacturing plants produced 21.28 million handsets in 2023, compared to 21.94 million in 2022 and 24.66 million in 2021. Commercial imports rose from 1.53 million in 2022 to 1.58 million in 2023. The 21.28 million locally manufactured handsets in 2023 included 13 million 2G and 8.28 million smartphones.
