Local manufacturing and assembly of mobile handsets experienced a slight decline of approximately 3 percent in 2023, primarily attributed to import challenges stemming from restrictions on opening letters of credit (LCs). Despite these limitations, official data from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) indicates a notable increase in commercial imports of mobile handsets during the same period.
According to the PTA, local manufacturing plants produced 21.28 million mobile handsets in 2023, compared to 21.94 million in 2022 and 24.66 million in 2021. However, commercial imports saw a rise from 1.53 million units in 2022 to 1.58 million units in 2023.
Of the 21.28 million locally manufactured or assembled mobile handsets, 13 million were 2G devices, while 8.28 million were smartphones.
During the first half of the fiscal year 2023-24 (July-December), Pakistan imported mobile phones valued at $792.612 million, marking a significant increase of 118.45 percent compared to $362.841 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.
