ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has taken the global lead in YouTube viewership, with users watching a staggering 560 million videos every day, as the country's digital consumption surges across social media platforms, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Hafeez Ur Rehman told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.
Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology, the PTA chairman revealed that Pakistan has approximately 96 million YouTube users, making the country a major force in the platform's global audience.
The digital boom extends beyond YouTube. Hafeez Ur Rehman said TikTok has 100 million registered accounts in Pakistan, while 150 million Pakistanis watch content on the platform.
WhatsApp is also witnessing massive engagement, with approximately 100 million accounts in the country. Pakistani users make 1 billion calls and exchange 12 billion messages daily, highlighting the growing dependence on digital communication.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja attributed the sharp rise in data consumption to increasing social media engagement and the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Shaza Fatima Khawaja said no spectrum auction had taken place after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif left office. She noted that his government introduced 4G services, while the current administration had conducted a 5G spectrum auction.
Pakistan has approximately 1.8 million 5G users, with services being rolled out in 24 cities, the minister said, adding that efforts were underway to improve network performance and service quality.
However, the country's expanding digital appetite faces infrastructure challenges. Khawaja identified the theft of entire mobile towers, diesel and generators as major factors disrupting telecommunications services.
She said such incidents continue to affect network quality and the uninterrupted delivery of telecom services.
With hundreds of millions of daily video views and billions of digital interactions, Pakistan's growing online footprint highlights the country's rapidly expanding appetite for digital content and connectivity.
