Pakistan’s mobile phone imports witnessed a sharp increase during the first five months of the current fiscal year, FY26, crossing Rs. 226 billion, according to official figures.
Data shows that between July and November FY26, Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $801.139 million, marking a growth of over 40 percent compared to the same period last year. In rupee terms, imports surged to Rs. 226.133 billion, up from Rs. 158.518 billion, reflecting a 42.65 percent increase.
On a month-on-month basis, mobile phone imports rose by 8.30 percent in November 2025, reaching $156.565 million, compared to $144.563 million in October. However, year-on-year data showed a 4.81 percent decline, as imports in November were lower than $149.378 million recorded in November 2024.
Despite the current surge, mobile phone imports had declined in the previous fiscal year. During FY25, Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.494 billion, down 21.31 percent from $1.898 billion in FY24. In rupee terms, imports stood at Rs. 417.351 billion, compared to Rs. 535.690 billion a year earlier.
Overall telecom imports during FY25 totaled $2.099 billion, registering a negative growth of 11.30 percent compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, local mobile manufacturing and assembly continued to perform strongly. During the first ten months of calendar year 2025, local plants manufactured or assembled 25.11 million mobile phones, while only 1.7 million handsets were imported commercially.
In October 2025 alone, local production reached 2.33 million units, compared to just 0.2 million imported phones. Locally produced devices included 13.2 million smartphones and 11.9 million 2G phones.
According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority data, around 70 percent of mobile devices currently active on the network are smartphones, while 30 percent are 2G handsets, reflecting the country’s growing shift toward smart devices.
