During the first half of 2024 (January-June), local manufacturing and assembling plants in Pakistan produced 17.34 million mobile handsets, significantly surpassing the 0.84 million handsets imported commercially. In June alone, 4.26 million handsets were locally manufactured or assembled, compared to 0.08 million imported. From January to May 2024, local production reached 13.08 million units against 0.76 million imported commercially. Of the 17.34 million locally produced handsets, 6.19 million were 2G, and 11.15 million were smartphones.
According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), 61 percent of mobile devices on Pakistan’s network are smartphones, while 39 percent are 2G. Mobile phone imports amounted to $1.898 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24, a 233 percent increase from $570.071 million in 2022-23. In rupee terms, imports rose by 291.45 percent to Rs535.690 billion compared to Rs136.847 billion the previous year.
In June 2024, mobile phone imports grew by 76.77 percent month-on-month to $278.574 million, up from $157.592 million in May 2024. Year-on-year, imports surged by 419.90 percent, compared to $53.582 million in June 2023. Overall telecom imports in 2023-24 were $2.366 billion, up 147.36 percent from $956.696 million in 2022-23. Year-on-year, telecom imports grew by 232 percent in June 2024, reaching $320.094 million, while month-on-month growth was 51.28 percent compared to $211.586 million in May 2024.
