Import of cellphones up by 14.51 percent in eight months

Import of mobile phones in the country during first eight months of fiscal year 2017-18 increased by 14.51 per cent as compared to same period of previous year. The import increased to $526 million during July-February (2017-18) from $459.38 million in same period of the year 2016-17. According to latest data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) here, on year-on-year basis, the mobile phone import also witnessed increasing trend as it rose to $69.78 million in February 2018 from $60.03 million in February 2017, thus showing an increase of 16.24 per cent.
On month-on-month basis, the import decreased by 12.52 per cent in February 2018 as compared to that of January 2018 in which the import of mobile phones was $79.76 million. In addition, the import of overall telecom group also increased by 13.7 per cent in July-February 2017-18 compared to same period of previous year.
The telecom import during first 8 months of current fiscal year was recorded at $1.003 billion while it was recorded $882.17 million during July-February 2016-17. On year-on-year basis, the telecom import in February 2018 increased by 25.6 per cent and 57.9 per cent when compared to the import during February 2017 while on month-on-month basis, the import decreased by 4.48 per cent as compared to that of January 2018. The telecom import in February, 2018 was recorded at $127.38 million against the import of $101.415 million in February 2017 and $133.366 million in January 2018.