Pakistan recorded the fastest reduction in the mobile Internet gender gap among 14 low- and middle-income countries surveyed by the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2026. The gap narrowed sharply from 25% in 2024 to just 8% in 2025, as women’s mobile Internet usage increased from 45% to 53%, while men’s usage remained largely unchanged.
Despite this progress, Pakistan continues to have the widest mobile phone ownership gap among the countries surveyed. The report found that 68% of women own a mobile phone compared to 93% of men. It also revealed that 28% of Pakistani women who use mobile Internet rely entirely on someone else’s phone, compared to only 4% of men.
GSMA praised Pakistan’s progress, calling it one of the strongest performers in reducing the digital gender divide. However, the organization stressed that providing women with their own devices and improving digital inclusion will be essential to sustain this momentum.
The report highlighted that women who own smartphones are far more active online. About 94% of women with their own Internet-enabled phone use mobile Internet daily, compared with 48% of women who depend on shared devices. Experts warn that relying on family members’ phones limits women’s privacy, independence, and access to essential online services, including healthcare information, education, financial services, and reporting online harassment.
Smartphone ownership among Pakistani women also improved, rising from 30% to 40%, reducing the smartphone ownership gap from 48% to 30%. However, literacy, limited digital skills, and restrictive social norms remain major barriers to wider adoption.
Globally, women in low- and middle-income countries are still 12% less likely than men to use mobile Internet, leaving an estimated 810 million women offline. GSMA estimates that closing this digital gender gap could add $1.3 trillion to the combined GDP of these economies by 2030.
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