ISLAMABAD: Local mobile phone manufacturing in Pakistan surged in the first quarter of 2025, with 7.21 million units produced—vastly outpacing imports of just 0.54 million units during the same period. According to official data, local manufacturing and assembling plants in Pakistan produced 2.33 million mobile phones in March 2025, compared to only 0.17 million units imported commercially that month. In the calendar year 2024, Pakistan assembled 31.38 million mobile phone handsets, while only 1.71 million units were imported, reflecting strong momentum in local mobile phone manufacturing. The 7.21 million units assembled in Q1 2025 consisted of 4.09 million 2G handsets and 3.12 million smartphones. As per PTA data, 67% of devices on Pakistani networks are smartphones, while 33% are 2G phones. Despite the upward trend in local mobile phone manufacturing, imports still contribute notably to the market. In the first eight months (July–February) of fiscal year 2024–25, mobile phone imports totaled $1 billion, marking a 12.89% year-on-year decline from $1.148 billion in FY 2023–24. In rupee terms, the country imported mobile phones worth Rs278.366 billion, down 14.8% from Rs326.732 billion during the same period last year. Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.898 billion in FY 2023–24, compared to $570.071 million in FY 2022–23—showing year-over-year volatility in import trends. On a month-on-month basis, February 2025 imports dropped by 1.21% to $132.620 million, down from $134.243 million in January. On a year-on-year basis, imports in February 2025 declined by 17.57% compared to $160.890 million in February 2024, per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).