Pakistan’s Mobile Imports Increase by 156% During July-Feb

According to the latest reports, Pakistan’s mobile imports showed a vigorous increase of 156.43%, valued at $1.148 billion during the first eight months of FY2023-24. Last year, $447.854 million imports were recorded in the same period. However, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) hints at a monthly decrease from February onwards. The imports started falling from 17.46% to $160.899 million in February 2024, down from $194.928 million in January 2024.

Mobile Imports Showed A Robust Increase Due to Local Manufacturing Decline

Year-on-year figures for February indicate an impressive growth of 386.78%. The imports rose from $33.054 million in February 2023 to $160.899 million in February 2024. It is no doubt a drastic increase in imports, all due to local manufacturing decline. The overall telecom sector also witnessed growth, with imports totaling $1.434 billion between July and February 2023-24. It is almost 102.44% up from $708.796 million in the same period the last year.

If we dig into the reports of February 2024 alone, mobile imports saw a 195.81% year-on-year increase in telecom imports, reaching $191.504 million compared to $64.740 million in February 2023. Despite this increase, the month-on-month figures for February 2024 hint at a 17.71% decline in telecom imports from $232.709 million in January 2024.

If we talk about local production, 2.27 million mobile handsets were manufactured/assembled in Pakistan in Jan 2024. It is a noteworthy increase from 0.24 million units imported for commercial purposes. The production included 0.72 million 2G smartphones and 1.55 million other ones. PTA claims that the smartphone market consists of 60% smartphones and 40% 2G phones.

The local manufacturing sector of Pakistan went through a 4% decrease in 2023. It was because of import restrictions and challenges in opening Letters of Credit for mobile phone accessories. Due to all these hurdles, local manufacturing in Pakistan declined increasing imports.