Economic Survey 2023-24: mobile phones dominate as Pakistan’s telecom sector imports stand at $1.62bn

Imports by Pakistan’s telecom sector soared by 117.9%, jumping to $1.623 billion during July-March FY2024, according to the Economic Survey 2023-24 revealed on Tuesday. The sector’s imports stood at just $745 million for the same period of the previous year.

The biggest jump was seen in mobile phone imports. They increased by 181.3% during July-March FY2024 and hit $1.3 billion compared to $462.7 million in the same period the previous year.

“The removal of import restrictions in concurrence with rupee appreciation since September 2023, created a favourable environment, leading to higher imports of mobile phones,” stated the survey.

However, the sector’s imports stand in stark contrast as part of total imports since the country has seen a decline in imports amid “policy tightening and other administrative measures”, according to the survey.

The total imports during July-March FY2024 amounted to $39.9 billion compared to $43.7 billion in the same period last year, declining by 8.7%.

The contraction in imports was broad-based, said the Economic Survey, adding that all significant groups recorded declines.

On a year-over-year basis, imports increased by 29.8% in March 2024 and stood at $4.9 billion against $3.8 billion in March 2023.

Quarter of Pakistan’s total imports comes from China

Just like its exports, Pakistan’s imports are also highly concentrated in a few countries. Pakistan imports from countries like China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Indonesia, which constitute around 50% of the total imports.

The share of imports from China increased from 21% to 26% during July-March FY2024, while the share of imports from the USA decreased from 4% to 3% during the period under review.

China is one of the three countries with which Pakistan has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The other two countries are Sri Lanka and Malaysia.