Pakistan’s mobile phone imports climbed to 1.139 billion dollars during the first seven months of fiscal year 2025 to 2026, reflecting a 31.36 percent increase compared to 867.685 million dollars recorded in the same period last year. The sharp rise indicates a rebound in consumer demand and import activity following a contraction in the previous fiscal cycle. Higher inflows of mobile devices suggest improved market liquidity and renewed purchasing activity, as economic conditions gradually stabilize and distributors rebuild inventories across retail channels.
On a month to month basis, the upward trend remained intact. Mobile phone imports reached 179.380 million dollars in January 2026, marking a 12.60 percent increase from 159.304 million dollars in December 2025. On a yearly comparison, January imports surged 33.62 percent from 134.243 million dollars recorded in January 2025. In local currency terms, the cumulative value of imports during July to January FY2026 stood at Rs 321.137 billion, compared to Rs 241.330 billion in the same period last year, representing a 33.07 percent rise. The higher rupee value reflects both increased import volumes and the currency impact on trade figures. Despite the current growth pattern, imports had declined during the previous fiscal year, when Pakistan imported mobile phones worth 1.494 billion dollars in FY2025, down 21.31 percent from 1.898 billion dollars in FY2024. In rupee terms, imports fell to Rs 417.351 billion in FY2025 from Rs 535.690 billion a year earlier, while overall telecom imports contracted to 2.099 billion dollars in FY2025, compared to 2.366 billion dollars in FY2024.
Alongside rising imports, domestic manufacturing continues to account for a substantial share of handset supply. During calendar year 2025, Pakistan produced and assembled 30.21 million mobile handsets locally, compared to only 2.37 million units imported commercially. Of the total locally manufactured devices, 15.64 million were smartphones and 14.57 million were 2G handsets, highlighting the dual structure of the domestic market where entry level and smart devices coexist. In December 2025 alone, 2.61 million mobile phones were manufactured within the country, compared to 0.33 million imported units, underlining the scale of local assembly operations.
Official network data shows that smartphones now account for 71 percent of devices connected to Pakistan’s mobile networks, while 29 percent remain 2G handsets. This distribution signals a gradual transition toward higher capability devices, supporting increased data usage, digital payments, online services, and app based platforms. The combined trend of rising imports and sustained local production points to expanding consumer appetite and evolving technology adoption patterns, even as policymakers continue to evaluate measures aimed at balancing trade flows with domestic industrial growth.
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