Pakistan spends $1.898 billion on mobile phone imports in FY 2023-24

Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.898 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24, reflecting a 233% increase compared to $570.071 million in the fiscal year 2022-23, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).  

In rupee terms, mobile phone imports stood at Rs535.690 billion, a 291.45% growth from Rs136.847 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Mobile phone imports in June 2024 amounted to $278.574 million, marking a 76.77% increase from $157.592 million in May 2024. Year-on-year, imports surged by 419.90% in June, up from $53.582 million in June 2023.

Overall telecom imports during the fiscal year 2023-24 reached $2.366 billion, a 147.36% increase compared to $956.696 million in 2022-23. 

On a year-on-year basis, telecom imports grew by 232% in June 2024, totaling $320.094 million compared to $96.415 million in June 2023. Month-on-month, telecom imports rose by 51.28% in June 2024 from $211.586 million in May 2024.

Local manufacturing and assembly plants produced 13.08 million mobile handsets in the first five months (January-May) of 2024, compared to 0.76 million units imported commercially. In May alone, 2.23 million mobile handsets were locally manufactured or assembled, while 0.11 million were imported commercially. 

Of the 13.08 million locally manufactured or assembled mobile handsets, 4.98 million were 2G phones, and 8.1 million were smartphones. As per the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data, 61% of mobile devices on the network are smartphones, while 39% are 2G phones.

Local manufacturing and assembly of mobile handsets declined by around 4% in the calendar year 2023 due to issues related to the restriction of opening Letters of Credit (LCs) for mobile phone accessories. Despite these restrictions, commercial imports of mobile handsets increased.