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Pakistan's cricketer-turned-politician comfortably ahead in Pakistan elections, but will need a coalition to form the government.
His party bagged 110 seats, 27 short of majority mark 137 in 269 seats in Pakistan assembly.
Results from 19 seats were still being counted, reports The Dawn.
Imran's nearest rival, Shahbaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League recieved 63 seats. Third place went to the left of center Pakistan People's party with 39 seats.
Election officials announced the result on Friday after a tediously slow count amid allegations of fraud.
In a televised address to the nation yesterday ahead of the formal result, Imran Khan promised to build a “new” Pakistan.
Sharif, who heads the party of jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has rejected the results claiming widespread fraud and manipulation.
Khan declared his victory yesterday and dismissed the allegations of fraud, calling it the most transparent election in Pakistan's history.
It comes after a campaign that has been marred by violence, with a bomb killing 31 people at a polling station on election day on Wednesday.
Khan's message of a "new" Pakistan resonated with young voters in a country where 64 per cent of its 200 million people are below the age of 30.
In a speech laced with passion, Khan said he wanted good ties with his neighbours, including rival India, and said he would seek a more equal relationship with the US.
"Today in front of you, in front of the people of Pakistan, I pledge I will run Pakistan in such a way as it has never before been run," he said.
Imran vowed to wipe out corruption, strengthen institutions and regain national pride by developing international relationships based on respect and equality.
He added that the US treats Pakistan like a mercenary, giving it billions of dollars to fight its war on terrorism.
"Unfortunately, so far our relations were one-sided. America thinks that it gives Pakistan money to fight for them. Because of this Pakistan suffered a lot," Khan, who has been critical of the US-led conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan, said.
He focused on what he wanted to do for the poor in Pakistan and his vision of a country that bowed to no one, where everyone was equal under the law and taxes were paid by the rich to fund services for the less fortunate.
Sharif heads the Pakistan Muslim League, the party of his older brother, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in prison on corruption charges. Projections give his party 64 seats.
He tweeted that "our democratic process has been pushed back by decades," adding that "had the public mandate been delivered in a fair manner, we would have accepted it happily".
Analysts have expressed concern that disgruntled losers could create instability for the incoming government, which must deal with a crumbling economy, crippling debt and a raging militancy.
The voting was marred by a suicide bombing in the south-west city of Quetta, the Baluchistan provincial capital, that killed 31 people as they waited to vote.
A bombing in the same province earlier this month killed 149 people, including a candidate for office.
The election marked only the second time in Pakistan's 71-year history that one civilian government has handed power to another.
There were widespread concerns during the campaign about manipulation by the military, which has directly or indirectly ruled Pakistan for most of its existence. The military deployed 350,000 troops at the 85,000 polling stations.
In a tweet, Pakistan's military spokesman Gen. Asif Ghafoor called allegations of interference "malicious propaganda."