Pakistan Emerges as the World’s Leading Solar Importer — Quietly but Surely

Despite the absence of a sweeping green policy, a major influx of international investment, or high-profile government announcements, Pakistan has quietly become one of the world’s largest importers of solar panels — marking an unexpected clean energy success story.

According to The Independent, citing data from the Global Electricity Review 2025 by UK-based energy think tank Ember, Pakistan imported a staggering 17 gigawatts worth of solar panels in 2024. This figure represents a doubling of the previous year's imports and places Pakistan firmly among the top global buyers of solar technology.

What sets Pakistan’s solar rise apart is its grassroots nature. Rather than being driven by a government-led initiative or utility-scale rollout, the boom is largely fueled by households, small businesses, and commercial users turning to rooftop solar to escape chronic power outages and rising electricity costs.

“Rooftop solar has become a means of accessing lower-cost power,” Ember’s report notes, highlighting the shift as both pragmatic and urgent in a country facing economic instability and energy poverty.

Muhammad Mustafa Amjad, Programme Director at Renewables First, described the phenomenon as a “survival response” rather than a conventional energy transition.

“People and businesses are increasingly being priced out of the grid due to inefficient planning and unreliable supply,” Amjad told The Independent. “It marks a structural shift in how energy is perceived in Pakistan.”

He noted that solar imports in FY2024 alone amount to roughly half of the country’s national peak power demand — a striking indicator of how rooftop solar is rapidly emerging as the preferred energy source.

“As rooftop solar gains ground, the role of the grid must massively adapt in order to remain relevant in a fast-transitioning energy economy,” Amjad added.

Pakistan’s unexpected rise as a solar leader underscores a global truth: transformative change doesn’t always begin with sweeping reforms — sometimes, it starts with millions of quiet decisions made on rooftops.