Pakistan manufactures record 3 million mobile phones in a single month

KARACHI: Pakistan witnessed a sharp rise in mobile phone manufacturing in September 2025, with local production surging by 55 percent (pc) compared to the previous month, according to data released by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Over 3 million mobile phones were assembled locally during the month, marking a 40pc year-on-year and 55pc month-on-month increase in production.

During the first nine months of the current fiscal year, sales of locally manufactured mobile phones crossed 22.2 million units, reflecting a modest 1pc overall growth compared to the same period last year.

Out of the total units sold, 10 million were 2G phones, while 11 million were smartphones, accounting for 48pc and 52pc of the market share, respectively.

According to PTA, 94pc of Pakistan’s mobile phone demand is now being met through local manufacturing. The authority expects mobile phone sales to grow by 7pc to 8pc in the coming year.

According to a report released in July 2025, the import of mobile phones into Pakistan witnessed a decrease of 21.31 percent during the fiscal year 2024-25 as compared to the last year 2023-24.

Pakistan imported mobile phones worth US $ 1.494 billion during July-June (2024-25) as compared to the imports of US $ 1.898 billion during July-June (2023-24), according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Meanwhile, on a year-to-year basis, the import of mobile phones also dipped by 49.95 percent during the month of June 2025 when compared to the same month of last year.

The import of mobiles into the country during June 2025 was recorded at $ 139.425 million against the exports of $278.574 million in June 2024.

On a month-on-month basis, the imports of cellular phones went up by 39.60 percent during June 2025, as compared to the imports of US $99.875 million during May 2025, according to the data.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall exports from the country increased by 4.67 percent during the fiscal year 2024-25 as compared to previous year, the data revealed.