Pakistan’s Mobile Phone Imports Rise Over 40% in First Five Months of FY26

Pakistan’s mobile phone imports rose sharply during the first five months of the current fiscal year, despite a broader decline in telecom imports and a strong push toward local manufacturing.

Official data shows that Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $801.139 million between July and November FY2025-26, compared to $570.184 million in the same period last year, marking a 40.51 per cent increase. In rupee terms, the value of imports climbed to Rs226.133 billion, up from Rs158.518 billion, reflecting a 42.65 per cent growth.

On a month-on-month basis, mobile phone imports increased by 8.30 percent, reaching $156.565 million in November 2025, compared to $144.563 million in October. However, year-on-year figures present a mixed picture. Imports in November 2025 declined 4.81 percent compared to $149.378 million in November 2024.

The rise in imports during the current fiscal year comes after a notable contraction last year. Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.494 billion in FY2024-25, a 21.31 per cent decline from the $1.898 billion recorded in FY2023-24. In rupee terms, mobile phone imports fell to Rs417.351 billion, down 22.09 per cent from Rs535.690 billion a year earlier.

Overall telecom imports also remained under pressure. Total telecom imports stood at $2.099 billion in FY2024-25, registering a negative growth of 11.30 per cent compared to $2.366 billion in FY2023-24.

Meanwhile, local manufacturing continues to dominate the market. Data shows that 25.11 million mobile handsets were manufactured or assembled locally during January–October 2025, compared to just 1.7 million commercially imported units. In October alone, 2.33 million handsets were locally produced, while imports stood at 0.2 million units.

Of the locally manufactured devices, 13.2 million were smartphones, while 11.9 million were 2G phones. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), 70 per cent of mobile devices on Pakistani networks are smartphones, with the remaining 30 per cent comprising 2G handsets.

The data underscores Pakistan’s growing reliance on local assembly, even as import volumes show renewed momentum in the ongoing fiscal year.

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