ISLAMABAD: Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $733.425 million during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year 2024-25, marking a decrease of 7.46 percent compared to $792.581 million during the same period of the previous fiscal year 2023-24.
In rupee terms, mobile phone imports amounted to Rs203.919 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year, reflecting a negative growth of 10.24 percent compared to Rs277.189 billion during the same period of last fiscal year.
For the fiscal year 2023-24, Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.898 billion, a significant increase from $570.071 million in the fiscal year 2022-23.
In December 2024, mobile phone imports saw a 9.29 percent increase on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, reaching $163.257 million compared to $149.375 million in November 2024. However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, mobile phone imports dropped by 7.27 percent compared to $176.063 million in December 2023.
Overall telecom imports in the country stood at $997.083 million during July-December 2024, showing a decline of 1.33 percent compared to $1.01 billion in the same period of the previous year. Telecom imports increased by 9.63 percent on a MoM basis in December 2024, amounting to $202.719 million compared to $184.907 million in November 2024. On a YoY basis, the telecom sector saw a decline of 6.21 percent compared to $216.133 million in December 2023.
Locally, manufacturing/assembling plants produced 28.43 million mobile handsets in the first 11 months (January-November) of the calendar year 2024, a stark contrast to the 1.49 million handsets imported commercially during the same period. Of the locally assembled handsets, 11.42 million were 2G phones, while 17.01 million were smartphones.
According to PTA data, smartphones now account for 65 percent of the mobile devices on the Pakistan network, with 2G devices comprising the remaining 35 percent.
