According to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), mobile phone imports in the country have registered a significant 28.12% month-on-month (MoM) growth, standing at $51.960 million in January 2023, as compared to $72.291 million in December 2022.
However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, mobile phone imports have registered a negative growth of 71.10% in January 2023, as compared to $179.765 million during the same month last year.
The overall telecom imports into the country during the current fiscal year 2022-23 amounted to $644.127 million, which is a staggering 61.01% negative growth as compared to the same period of last fiscal year, which recorded imports worth $1.652 billion.
Further analysis of the data reveals that on a YoY basis, the overall telecom imports registered a negative growth of 65.75% and stood at $78.337 million in January 2023, as compared to $228.712 million during the same month last year.
However, it's worth noting that overall telecom imports registered a 28.79% growth in January 2023, as compared to $110.165 million during December 2022.
On the local front, manufacturing plants in Pakistan have produced 21.94 million mobile phones and handsets during the calendar year 2022, which is a decrease from the 24.66 million units manufactured in 2021. In December 2022, local manufacturing plants produced 2.24 million mobile phone handsets.
However, there has been a landmark increase of 88% in locally manufactured/assembled mobile phone handsets during the calendar year 2021, standing at 24.66 million compared to 13.05 million in 2020. It's worth noting that commercial imports of mobile phone handsets stood at 10.26 million in 2021 compared to 24.51 million in 2020.
According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data, out of the total mobile devices being used in Pakistan, 56% are smartphones, while 44% are 2G-enabled devices. The locally manufactured/assembled 21.94 million mobile phone handsets included 13.15 million 2G-enabled devices and 8.79 million smartphones.
These statistics shed light on the changing landscape of Pakistan's mobile phone industry and could potentially have an impact on the overall economy of the country. As the world becomes more reliant on technology and mobile devices, it's essential to keep an eye on these trends and adapt accordingly.
Statistics for Mobile Phones and Production for Jan-2023
- Mobile phone imports in January 2023: $51.960 million
- Mobile phone imports in December 2022: $72.291 million
- MoM growth rate: 28.12%
- Mobile phone imports in January 2022: $179.765 million
- YoY growth rate: -71.10%
- Overall telecom imports in FY2022-23: $644.127 million
- Overall telecom imports in FY2021-22: $1.652 billion
- YoY growth rate: -65.75%
- Telecom imports in January 2023: $78.337 million
- Telecom imports in January 2022: $228.712 million
- YoY growth rate: -65.75%
- Growth rate from December 2022 to January 2023: 28.79%
- Mobile phones and handsets manufactured/assembled in 2022: 21.94 million
- Mobile phones and handsets manufactured/assembled in 2021: 24.66 million
- Mobile phone handsets manufactured/assembled in December 2022: 2.24 million
- Increase in local manufacturing from 2020 to 2021: 88%
- Commercial imports of mobile phone handsets in 2021: 10.26 million
- Commercial imports of mobile phone handsets in 2020: 24.51 million
- Percentage of smartphones among mobile devices on the Pakistan network: 56%
- Percentage of 2G devices among mobile devices on the Pakistan network: 44%
