Mobile Phones imports increase in Pakistan

Federal Bureau of Statistics latest figures revealed that overall telecom sector import touched the figure of Rs34 billion in past three months, up by Rs8 billion as compare to the import of last year’s same three months, registering an increase of 13.79 per cent during the month of August, as compared to the previous month of July, 2011.

Imported telecom products are over Rs18.54 billion, up by Rs6.51 billion from import of same period of last fiscal year.

The import of mobile phone witnessed the increase of 50.58 percent during July-August 2011-12 over the same period of last year. This increase has happened due to the growth in subscriber base of Pakistan which has witnessed above 46 per cent growth during last few years. At the world level only Thailand, Belarus and Serbia have higher telecom growths than Pakistan.

The telecommunication imports during the first month of the ongoing fiscal year (2012-13) increased by 12.98 per cent and 16.24 per cent as compare to the imports of July 2011 and June 2012 respectively. The overall telecommunication imports during July 2012 were recorded at $112.378 million against the imports of $99.470 million in July 2011 and $96.680 million in June 2012, according to the figures of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Among the telecommunication products, the imports of mobile phones increased by 6.90 per cent in July 2012 as compare to the imports of the same month of last year.

Mobile imports during July 2012 were recorded at $52.661 million against the imports of $49.261 million during July 2011, the PBS data revealed. However, as compared to the imports of $56.176 million recorded during June 2012, the mobile imports during July 2012 witnessed decrease of 6.26 per cent.