By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, July 28: Nepal’s smartphone imports reached a record high in the fiscal year 2025/26, with the import bill nearing Rs. 49 billion amid growing consumer demand and rising purchases of premium handsets.
According to the annual trade statistics of the Department of Customs, the country imported a total of 2,267,419 smartphones worth Rs. 48.69 billion during the fiscal year 2025/26.
In the previous fiscal year, the country had imported 2,184,694 smartphones worth Rs. 35.54 billion.
The data show that smartphone imports increased by 37 per cent in value and 3.78 per cent in quantity.
The government also earned around Rs. 9.08 billion in customs revenue from smartphone imports during the review year.
The data also show a steady rise in smartphone imports over the years.
Nepal imported 1,839,035 smartphones worth Rs. 28.66 billion in fiscal year 2023/24, while 1,569,596 smartphones valued at Rs. 24.39 billion were imported in fiscal year 2022/23.
The latest figures suggest increasing consumer demand for smartphones as well as a growing preference for comparatively higher-priced models in the domestic market.
During the review year, the country imported smartphones from 69 countries. However, the market continued to be dominated by China and India.
According to the Department, smartphones are imported from many other countries such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon and Luxembourg.
Similarly, the smartphones are imported from Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Viet Nam.
China remained the largest source of smartphone imports. A total of 1,889,664 smartphones worth Rs. 36.79 billion were imported from China during the last fiscal year. China’s share stood at 83 per cent in terms of quantity and 75.5 per cent in terms of value.
The government collected Rs. 6.86 billion in revenue from smartphone imports from China alone.
In addition, the data shows that the second largest number of imports came from India.
A total of 364,842 smartphones worth Rs. 10.99 billion were imported from India, generating Rs. 2.04 billion in revenue for the government.
India’s share stood at 16 per cent in terms of quantity in the last fiscal year.
Similarly, 2,766 smartphones worth Rs. 185 million were imported from Australia, 1,789 smartphones worth Rs. 223 million from the United States, 1,394 smartphones worth Rs. 129 million from the United Arab Emirates, and 1,520 smartphones worth Rs. 124 million from Japan.
Likewise, 1,506 smartphones worth Rs. 43 million were imported from Cambodia, while 1,834 smartphones worth Rs. 26 million were imported from Qatar.
During the last fiscal year, the country also imported 853 smartphones worth Rs. 46 million from South Korea and 303 smartphones worth Rs. 35 million from the United Kingdom.
The Rising Nepal
