Islamabad: In 2023, Pakistan’s economy suffered a loss of 65 billion rupees due to internet shutdowns.
The internet shutdown affected 83 million Pakistanis, with a total duration of 259 hours, according to the latest statistics.
Interestingly, Pakistan ranked seventh globally in terms of economic losses due to internet shutdowns in the last fiscal year. Statista, a German online platform, specializes in gathering such data.
India topped the list last year for the longest duration of internet shutdowns, affecting 470 million users. However, India ranked fourth globally in terms of the overall number of internet shutdowns.
Regarding financial losses due to internet shutdowns, Russia ranked first, with the internet being shut down for 1,350 hours, resulting in an estimated economic loss of $4 billion and affecting 113 million users.
India’s economy faced an estimated loss of 10 crore Pakistani rupees, affecting 59 million users. The most significant internet shutdowns in India occurred in occupied Kashmir and Rajasthan. In India, the internet was often preemptively shut down to prevent public protests, while in Manipur, it was shut down due to ethnic tensions.
