Pakistan’s mobile internet gender gap has fallen from 25% to just 8% in a single year, making it one of the fastest improvements recorded anywhere in the world. The GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2026, launched in Islamabad on 18 June 2026, put Pakistan at the top of a list of 14 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for speed of progress. The news is a big win for digital inclusion, but experts say serious challenges in affordability and device ownership still hold millions of women back.
What the GSMA 2026 Report Says About Pakistan
The GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2026 is the ninth edition of this annual study. It tracks how many women own and use mobile phones across developing nations. Pakistan stood out clearly from the rest.
- Mobile internet gender gap: dropped from 25% to 8% in one year, one of the fastest improvements globally.
- Mobile ownership gender gap: fell from 37% to 27%, the largest single-year improvement among all 14 countries surveyed.
- Smartphone ownership gap: narrowed from 48% to 30%, with women’s smartphone ownership rising from 30% to 40%.
The reason the internet gap closed so fast is simple. Women’s mobile internet usage went up sharply, while men’s usage stayed about the same. That is an unusual pattern. In most countries, both sides move slowly together. In Pakistan, women drove almost all of the change.
Why Did Pakistan’s Mobile Internet Gender Gap Fall So Fast?
No single cause explains the drop. Telecom Operators’ Association (TOA) Chairman Aamir Ibrahim said the results show “what is possible when government, industry, and other stakeholders work toward a shared goal of digital inclusion.” A joint push from several directions helped:
- Government policy: The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) ran programmes to bring more women online.
- Mobile operators: Telecom companies offered targeted data plans and outreach to women in underserved areas.
- Development partners: International groups supported training and awareness campaigns at a grassroots level.
- Natural momentum: As smartphone prices fell and 4G coverage spread to smaller towns, more women were able to come online for the first time.
Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific at GSMA, said Pakistan “stands out as one of the strongest performers among the countries surveyed.” He added that making sure women have access to their own devices will be key to keeping up this pace. Pakistan’s record progress on the mobile internet gender gap also fits into a broader story of strong digital growth. The country’s IT sector has also been expanding rapidly, with Pakistan’s IT exports nearing $4.5 billion in FY26, showing that digital momentum is building across the board.
What Problems Still Remain?
The good news should not hide the scale of what is left to do. Pakistan still has some of the widest digital divides for women in the world, and the GSMA data makes that clear.
47 Million Women Still Offline
Around 47 million women in Pakistan still do not use mobile internet at all. Even with the big drop in the mobile internet gender gap, that is a huge number of people cut off from education, healthcare information, banking, and job opportunities.
Device Ownership Is a Real Barrier
One of the most striking findings is about how women actually get online. About 28% of female mobile internet users relied on someone else’s phone to access the internet, compared to just 4% of men. That means many women do not have their own devices. They depend on a husband, father, or brother to hand over a phone. This makes their internet access irregular and limited.
Women’s smartphone ownership rose from 30% to 40%, which is good progress. But male smartphone ownership stands at 57%, so there is still a 17-percentage-point gap in who actually owns a smartphone.
Affordability Stays a Top Barrier
Cost is the biggest single wall between women and the internet. The GSMA’s global data shows that even after women are aware of mobile internet, handset prices and data costs stop many from signing up. Ibrahim at TOA put it plainly: whether through installment plans or lower device costs, affordable smartphones must reach more women for the gains to stick. The mobile internet gender gap can narrow on paper, but if women cannot afford their own device, progress is fragile.
Mobile Money Gap Is Even Wider
A separate GSMA report on mobile money paints a harder picture. Pakistan’s mobile money gender gap sits at 63%, with only 13% of women owning a mobile money account versus 35% of men. In rural areas, that gap widens to 74%. Social norms also play a role, with 39% of women saying family disapproval stops them from using mobile money. This shows that digital inclusion goes beyond just internet access. Financial access for women is a separate and bigger challenge.
Why This Matters for Pakistan’s Future
The global GSMA report notes that closing the mobile internet gender gap in LMICs could add $1.3 trillion to global GDP between 2023 and 2030. For Pakistan, the benefits are very direct. Women who come online can access banking, start small businesses, take online courses, and find work. Every woman who gains a stable internet connection gains a wider set of choices in her life.
Globally, women in LMICs are still 12% less likely to use mobile internet than men, with 810 million women remaining offline across the developing world. More than two-thirds of those women live in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Pakistan’s sharp progress on the mobile internet gender gap is a bright spot in a picture that is otherwise moving slowly.
Experts agree that the next phase will be harder. Bringing the first wave of women online is one thing. Making sure they have their own devices, can afford data, and feel safe using the internet is a deeper problem. It requires work on social norms, education, and economic access, not just network coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Pakistan’s mobile internet gender gap in 2025?
According to the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2026, Pakistan’s mobile internet gender gap fell to just 8% in 2025, down from 25% the year before. This is one of the fastest reductions ever recorded among the 14 low- and middle-income countries the GSMA surveyed.
What caused the mobile internet gender gap to drop so fast in Pakistan?
The drop was driven mainly by a sharp rise in women’s mobile internet usage, while men’s usage stayed stable. A combination of government policy, telecom operator outreach, development partner programmes, and falling smartphone prices all played a role in bringing more women online.
How many women in Pakistan still do not have mobile internet?
Despite the big improvement, around 47 million women in Pakistan still do not use mobile internet. Many of those who do go online are using someone else’s phone, not their own, which limits how much they can actually benefit.
What barriers still stop Pakistani women from getting online?
The main barriers are the cost of smartphones, the cost of data, low digital literacy, and social norms. A very wide mobile money gender gap of 63% also shows that financial access for women remains a separate and serious problem, even as the internet gap narrows.
