In July 2024, Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $64.504 million, marking a 5.30 percent decrease compared to $68.113 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year, 2023-24.
In terms of rupees, mobile phone imports amounted to Rs 17.957 billion in July 2024, reflecting a 6.18 percent decline from Rs 19.140 billion in July 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, mobile phone imports plummeted by 76.84 percent in July 2024, down from $278.574 million in June 2024, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Despite the decline in mobile phone imports, overall telecom imports into the country increased by 13.25 percent, reaching $102.587 million in July 2024, compared to $90.588 million in July 2023.
For the fiscal year 2023-24, Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.898 billion, a significant increase of 233 percent compared to $570.071 million in the fiscal year 2022-23.
The rise in local manufacturing has been notable, with local plants manufacturing or assembling 17.34 million mobile handsets in the first half of 2024 (January-June), compared to just 0.84 million units imported commercially. In June alone, 4.26 million handsets were locally manufactured or assembled, while only 0.08 million were imported.
From January to May 2024, local manufacturing plants produced 13.08 million mobile handsets, compared to 0.76 million imported commercially. The 17.34 million locally manufactured or assembled handsets included 6.19 million 2G phones and 11.15 million smartphones.
According to data from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), 61 percent of mobile devices on the Pakistan network are smartphones, while 39 percent are 2G devices. This shift towards local manufacturing and assembly reflects a growing trend in the domestic mobile phone industry.
