Telecom data usage in Pakistan witnessed a notable surge over the past three years, reaching 27,897 petabytes (PB) in the fiscal year 2024-25. PTA reported a 37.84% increase from the 20,235 PB recorded in 2022-23, driven primarily by growing adoption of streaming services, online learning platforms, mobile applications, and e-commerce activities. On a year-on-year basis, data consumption rose by 10.96% from the 25,141 PB recorded in 2023-24, reflecting a continued shift in consumer behavior toward digital platforms and mobile connectivity.
Broadband usage also demonstrated a strong upward trend. Total broadband subscribers increased from 127.6 million in 2022-23 to 150 million in 2024-25, an overall growth of 17.55% in three years and 8.47% from the 138.3 million reported in the previous fiscal year. The national broadband penetration rate climbed to 60.8% from 53.6%, showing an improvement of 13.43% since 2022-23 and 6.67% over the past year. These figures underscore a growing reliance on high-speed internet services, particularly across urban and semi-urban populations.
Pakistan’s total telecom subscriber base also expanded, reaching 200 million users in 2024-25. This represents a 3.36% increase from 193.5 million subscribers in 2022-23 and a 2.51% rise compared to 195.1 million in 2023-24. Teledensity, a measure of telephone connections for every hundred individuals, remained relatively stable, recorded at 81.21% in 2024-25 compared to 80.5% a year earlier and 81.4% in 2022-23. The consistency in teledensity suggests that the telecom market in Pakistan is nearing maturity, with marginal room left for major subscriber base expansion.
Telecom infrastructure also improved, as the number of operational cell sites increased to 57,888 in 2024-25, up from 53,581 in 2022-23. This marks an 8.03% growth over three years and 3.78% year-on-year. The continued expansion in cellular infrastructure supports the rising demand for mobile and internet connectivity, especially in remote and underserved areas.
Despite gains in usage and subscriptions, telecom sector revenues faced a decline in 2024-25, falling to Rs. 803 billion from Rs. 955 billion in 2023-24, reflecting a 15.91% drop. When compared to the revenue of Rs. 817 billion in 2022-23, the decrease stood at 1.71%. However, the sector’s contribution to the national exchequer showed improvement, rising to Rs. 271 billion in 2024-25 from Rs. 195.1 billion in the previous year. Although still lower than the Rs. 341 billion contributed in 2022-23, the increase signals a partial recovery in fiscal impact despite lower overall revenues.
The latest data released by PTA highlights a resilient telecom sector with strong user engagement and consistent growth in digital infrastructure, even as financial metrics reflect ongoing challenges in revenue generation.
