Import of mobile phones in the country during first six months of current fiscal year increased by 14.38 per cent as compared to same period of previous year.

The import increased to $376.5 million during July-December (2017-18) from $329.177 million in same period of the year 2016-17.

According to latest data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) here on Friday, on year-on-year basis, the mobile phone import also witnessed increasing trend as it rose to $73.04 million in December 2017 from $65.16 million in December 2016, thus showing an increase of 12 per cent.

On month-on-month basis, the import increased by 25.41 per cent in December 2017 as compared to that of November 2017 in which the import of mobile phones was posted $58.24 million.

In addition, the import of overall telecom group also increased by 12 per cent in July-December 2017-18 compared to same period of previous year.

The telecom import during first two quarters of current fiscal year was recorded at $739.6 million while it was recorded $659.99 million during July-December 2016-17.

On year-on-year and month-on-month basis, the telecom import in December 2017 increased by 8.27 per cent and 57.9 per cent when compared to the import during December 2016 and November 2017 respectively.

The telecom import increased to $179.287 million in December 2017 from $165.6 million in same month of last year and $113.5 million in November 2017.