Business Desk 
Oct 20, 2024
Pakistan's mobile phone imports have witnessed a significant decline of 18.93% in the first quarter (July to September) of the current fiscal year 2024-25, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The country imported mobile phones worth $246.472 million, down from $304.029 million during the same period last year.
Mobile phone imports to Pakistan
Import of mobile phones witnessed a declining trend mainly due to an increase in domestic manufacturing. Pakistan is encouraging the local assembly and manufacture of mobile phones and this has witnessed a substantial increase in local production.
While local plants assembled 20.44 million cell phones from the start of the year through August 2024, only 1.1 million handsets were commercially imported into Pakistan.
At Rs68.612 billion, the value of mobile phone imports in Pakistan during the first quarter of FY25 showed a drop of 22.86% compared to last year's Rs88.945 billion during the corresponding period.
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However, recorded import growth of mobile phones on a Month-on-Month (MoM) basis in September 2024 rose by 29.32% to $102.629 million.
The overall telecom imports into the country stood at $374.410 million during July-September 2024, registering a 6.17% plunge compared to $399.048 million during the same period last year. On a year-on-year basis, overall telecom imports witnessed nosedives.
Mobile manufacturing in Pakistan
Local mobile manufacturing in Pakistan is on the rise, with 20.44 million handsets produced, including 12.73 million smartphones. This shift would reduce import reliance, conserve foreign exchange, create jobs, and boost the economy.
