ISLAMABAD: The country imported mobile phones worth $1.898 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24, registering growth of 233 per cent when compared to $570.071 million during the fiscal year 2022-23.
In rupee term, the country imported mobile phones of Rs 535.690 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24 and registered 291.45 per cent growth when compared to Rs136.847 billion during 2022-23.
Pakistan’s mobile phone imports increased by 76.77 per cent on a month-on-month (MoM) basis in June 2024 and stood at $278.574 million compared to imports of $157.592 million in May 2024, according to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
First 11 months (July-May) of FY 2023-24: Mobile phones’ import posts 213.97pc growth YoY
Mobile phone imports registered 419.90 per cent growth on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in June 2024 when compared to $53.582 million in June 2023.
The overall telecom imports into the country stood at $2.366 billion during 2023-24 and registered 147.36 per cent growth compared to $956.696 million during 2022-23. On a YoY basis, the overall telecom imports registered a growth of 232 per cent and stood at $320.094 million in June 2024 compared to $96.415 million in June 2023. On a MoM basis, the overall telecom imports registered 51.28 per cent growth in June 2024 compared to $211.586 million during May 2024.
The local manufacturing/ assembling plants manufactured/ assembled 13.08 million mobile handsets during the first five months (January-May) of the calendar year 2024 compared to 0.76 million imported commercially. Official data revealed that the locally manufactured/assembled 2.23 million mobile handsets in May compared to 0.11 million imported commercially.
The locally manufactured/assembled 13.08 million mobile phone handsets included 4.98 million 2G and 8.1 million smartphones.
Besides, as per the PTA data, 61 percent of mobile devices are smartphones, and 39 percent are 2G on the Pakistan network.
Local manufacturing/ assembling of mobile handsets declined by around four percent during the calendar year 2023, attributable to issues in imports on account of restricting the opening of Letters of Credit (LCs) for mobile phones accessories. However, despite restrictions, commercial imports of mobile handsets increased during this period, official data revealed.
Local manufacturing plants manufactured/assembled 21.28 million mobile handsets during calendar year 2023 compared to 21.94 million during the same period of 2022 and 24.66 million in 2021. However, commercial imports increased from 1.53 million in 2022 to 1.58 million in 2023.
Further, the locally manufactured/assembled 21.28 million mobile phones handsets included 13 million 2G and 8.28 million smartphones.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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