Pakistan’s mobile imports increase by 48% year on year

Mobile imports in Pakistan have seen a huge surge as compared to statistics from a year ago.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), mobile imports in the fiscal year 2017 were $68.57 million as opposed to $46.204 million last year. This indicates a 48% increase year on year. This figure takes into accounts mobiles imported through legal channels only.

This sudden increase in mobile imports as compared to the imports from a year ago is due to the cut in customs duty. The government has decreased custom duty from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 650 on smartphones in the 2017-2018 budget. Smartphones were charged a sales tax ranging between Rs. 300, Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 1,500 per mobile phone set depending on their category. The customs duty was decreased in order to promote the usage of mobile.

Telecom imports increased 53% during the fiscal year 2017 compared to the same period of last year and total imports were $114.015 million during this period as compared to $74.262 million last year.

Other telecom imports also saw a growth of over 61% in the fiscal year 2017 with $45.445 million as opposed to $28.058 million in the same period last year.