Here is How Much Pakistanis Are Spending on Online Apps

Newly released figures by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) at the National Assembly Standing Committee show that Pakistanis spent over Rs. 317 billion on various online apps from tech giants such as Meta, Apple, Netflix, etc, for the fiscal year 2024–25, top sources exclusively revealed to ProPakistani. The federal government has introduced the “Digital Presence” Proceeds Levy Act, 2025, which imposes a new tax on foreign vendors like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Temu etc., and local vendors like Daraz and Pak Wheels supplying digitally ordered goods and services to consumers in Pakistan. The tax rate has been set at 5 percent of the total amount paid for both goods and services. The spending spree covers a wide array of apps, from social media giants to online shopping websites and streaming services. Leading the charge is Facebook/Meta, with Rs. 12.3 billion in transactions. Surprisingly, Apple/iTunes saw the highest number of transactions (over 5.1 million), totaling nearly Rs. 6 billion. Take a look at the table below.   Google followed closely with 2.3 million transactions and a transaction value of Rs. 5.94 billion. After that came the e-commerce giant AliExpress with strong spending of nearly Rs. 5 billion in over 944,466 transactions. Newer entrants like Temu also saw a notable Rs. 1.8 billion in spending despite a much smaller transaction volume. Streaming platforms such as Netflix clocked 3.37 million transactions worth Rs. 2.79 billion, suggesting continued demand for digital entertainment despite rising subscription costs. “Other” online platforms, which remain unspecified, had a total combined number of transactions at 28.6 million, totaling a staggering Rs. 281.4 billion, indicating a wide base of smaller vendors or possibly underreported or bundled transactions.