Pakistan Leads the World in YouTube Viewership, Says PTA Chairman

Pakistan has the largest YouTube audience in the world, with users in the country watching roughly 560 million videos on the platform every day, according to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Major General (retd) Hafeez Ur Rehman. He presented the figures while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, noting that around 96 million Pakistanis currently use YouTube.

The committee was also briefed on the broader social media landscape. TikTok has approximately 100 million user accounts in Pakistan, with around 150 million people watching videos on the app. WhatsApp likewise accounts for about 100 million user accounts, and Pakistanis place roughly 1 billion calls and send around 12 billion messages through the service each day, underscoring how central these platforms have become to daily communication.

Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja told lawmakers that social media and artificial intelligence have sharply increased data consumption across the country. She said no spectrum auction took place after the previous government left office, and noted that the current administration has carried out the 5G spectrum auction. According to the minister, 1.8 million people are now using 5G services, which are being rolled out across 24 cities, with the total nearing 2 million subscribers as the government works to improve service quality.

The rapid growth in video streaming, calling, and messaging means mobile networks are carrying far more data than before, making faster and more widespread 5G coverage increasingly important for everyday users. The minister also addressed why services sometimes suffer, saying entire telecom towers are stolen along with the diesel and generators that keep them running. The PTA has separately begun blocking WhatsApp accounts linked to inactive SIMs as part of its efforts to tighten oversight of the messaging platform.

The figures highlight the scale of Pakistan's digital economy and the pressure it places on telecom infrastructure. With nearly 100 million YouTube users and comparable numbers on TikTok and WhatsApp, reliable high-speed connectivity has become essential for entertainment, communication, and commerce alike, placing the performance of mobile networks firmly in the public interest.