KATHMANDU, May 25: Nepal has imported mobile phones worth Rs 24 billion (customs value) in the ten months of the current Fiscal Year (FY) 2024/25.
According to the Department of Customs (DoC), 1.528 million mobile phones were imported during this period. From this import, the government collected Rs 4.47 billion in customs revenue.
Compared to the same period last year, mobile imports decreased by Rs 4.75 billion. Last year, 1.785 million phones worth Rs 28.76 billion were imported, generating Rs 5.36 billion in customs revenue.
Farmers face fertilizer shortage despite government spending bi...
According to the DoC data from the last 10 years, the highest mobile phone imports up to Baisakh were recorded in the FY 2023/24. After that, in 2020/21, mobile phones worth Rs 24.09 billion were imported.
In the last 10 years, the lowest mobile phone import occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic year 2021/22, with imports worth only Rs 200 million. Prior to that, in the COVID year 2019/20, mobile imports were valued at Rs 2.4 billion.
Over the past decade, a total of 27.4 million mobile phones have been brought into Nepal. These imports had a customs value of Rs 81.18 billion, and the government collected Rs 15.15 billion in taxes.
Recently, although the number of imported mobiles appears to have decreased, the import of expensive mobile phones has increased. As a result, annual expenditure on mobile imports has been rising. According to mobile business operators, the average purchase price of a mobile phone ranges between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000.
