Pakistan's Mobile Phone Imports Increase by Nearly 30% in the First 8 Months of Fiscal Year 2026

According to official data, Pakistan’s mobile phone imports have seen a significant increase during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2025-26. From July to February, the country imported mobile phones worth about $1.295 billion, compared to $999.55 million in the same period last year. This is an increase of about 29.6 percent in imports.

In local currency terms, the value of mobile phone imports during July-February reached Rs364.68 billion, compared to Rs278.16 billion in the same period a year ago. This is an increase of about 31.1 percent in rupee terms.

However, on a monthly basis, mobile phone imports saw a decline in February 2026. The volume of imports in February was $155.55 million, which is 13.26 percent less than the $179.34 million in January 2026. Despite this, imports in February 2026 were 17.95 percent higher than the $131.87 million in February 2025.

During the last fiscal year 2024-25, Pakistan imported a total of $1.494 billion worth of mobile phones. This amount was 21.31 percent lower than the $1.898 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24. In rupee terms, mobile phone imports in 2024-25 were Rs417.35 billion, which was 22.09 percent lower than the Rs535.69 billion a year earlier.

The total imports of telecom equipment also saw a decline in the last fiscal year. Pakistan imported telecom equipment worth $2.099 billion in 2024-25, which was 11.30 percent lower than the $2.366 billion in 2023-24.

On the other hand, local mobile phone manufacturing continues to grow. In January 2026, local factories manufactured or assembled about 1.69 million mobile phones, while only 0.47 million phones were commercially imported in the same month.

During the entire year 2025, local plants manufactured or assembled 30.21 million mobile phones, while only 2.37 million units were imported.

Of the 1.69 million phones manufactured in January 2026, about 0.92 million were smartphones, while 0.77 million were 2G phones. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, currently about 71 percent of the devices active on Pakistan’s mobile network are smartphones, while 29 percent are 2G phones.