ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s mobile phone imports experienced a significant decline of 13.6% during the first four months of the fiscal year 2024-25 (July-October), amounting to $420.799 million. This marks a decrease of 10.46% compared to $469.969 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year 2023-24.
In rupee terms, mobile phone imports during the period stood at Rs. 117.017 billion, reflecting a 13.62% drop from Rs. 135.468 billion recorded in the same timeframe last year.
Despite the decline over the broader fiscal period, October 2024 saw a notable month-on-month (MoM) surge in mobile phone imports, rising by 69.89% to $174.338 million from $102.618 million in September 2024. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, October 2024 imports also grew by 5.06%, compared to $165.941 million in October 2023.
Overall telecom imports for the July-October 2024 period stood at $609.520 million, showing a marginal increase of 0.44% compared to $606.833 million in the same period of 2023. On a MoM basis, telecom imports surged by 53.92% in October 2024, reaching $235.349 million compared to $152.905 million in September 2024. Similarly, YoY telecom imports grew by 13.27% from $207.786 million in October 2023.
The decline in imports aligns with a growing emphasis on local mobile phone production. During the first nine months of 2024 (January-September), local manufacturing and assembly plants produced 22.59 million mobile handsets. This output significantly outpaced the 1.17 million units imported commercially during the same period.
In September alone, 2.15 million mobile handsets were locally manufactured or assembled, compared to just 0.07 million units imported. Among the locally produced devices, 13.86 million were smartphones, while 8.73 million were 2G handsets. Data from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) indicates that 64% of mobile devices on the network are smartphones, with the remaining 36% being 2G devices.
The shift towards local manufacturing not only reduces dependency on imports but also helps curb the country’s foreign exchange outflow. The declining imports amidst rising local production reflect a broader strategy to address economic challenges and promote self-reliance in the telecom sector.
