Islamabad – February 18, 2026: Pakistan’s mobile phone imports rose sharply in the first seven months of fiscal year 2025-26, reaching $1.139 billion during July-January, compared to $867.685 million in the same period last year, reflecting a 31.36% increase.
In rupee terms, total imports stood at Rs321.137 billion, up 33.07% from Rs241.330 billion recorded during July-January of FY2024-25.
Monthly and Year-on-Year Growth
On a month-on-month basis, imports grew 12.60% to $179.380 million in January 2026, compared to $159.304 million in December 2025. Year-on-year, January imports surged 33.62% against $134.243 million recorded in January 2025.
The rebound comes after a contraction in FY2024-25, when Pakistan’s total mobile phone imports fell 21.31% to $1.494 billion, down from $1.898 billion in FY2023-24. In rupee terms, imports last fiscal year stood at Rs417.351 billion, marking a 22.09% decline compared to Rs535.690 billion the previous year.
Overall telecom imports during FY2024-25 totaled $2.099 billion, reflecting an 11.30% decrease from $2.366 billion in FY2023-24.
Strong Local Manufacturing Presence
Despite the rise in imports, local manufacturing remains dominant. During calendar year 2025, domestic plants manufactured or assembled 30.21 million mobile handsets, compared to just 2.37 million commercially imported units.
In December 2025 alone, 2.61 million handsets were manufactured or assembled locally, while only 0.33 million units were imported.
Of the 30.21 million locally produced devices in 2025, 15.64 million were smartphones and 14.57 million were 2G phones.
According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority data, 71% of mobile devices active on local networks are smartphones, while 29% remain 2G devices.
The surge in imports alongside strong domestic assembly suggests rising consumer demand, improving purchasing activity, and continued transition toward higher smartphone penetration in Pakistan’s telecom market.
