Pakistan’s year-on-year SPI inflation reaches 11.97% in the week ended October 8, 2026, while weekly prices rise 0.57%, according to PBS data.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s weekly inflation rose to nearly 12% year-on-year (YoY) in the week ended October 8, 2026, driven by sharp increases in the prices of wheat flour, electricity, petrol and other essential commodities, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which tracks short-term price movements of 51 essential items collected from 50 markets across 17 cities, increased by 11.97% compared with the corresponding week last year.
On a week-on-week (WoW) basis, the combined SPI rose by 0.57%, reflecting higher prices for several food items and fuel.
According to the PBS analysis, wheat flour prices increased by 5.69% during the week, followed by chicken at 4.93% and gram pulse at 3.99%. Petrol and tomatoes each recorded an increase of 2.40%.
Other commodities registering price increases included masoor pulse, up 1.29%; prepared tea, 1.08%; cooked daal, 0.98%; mash pulse, 0.91%; and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 0.57%.
However, prices of several items declined during the week. Bananas fell by 2.81%, diesel by 1.37%, potatoes by 0.89%, sugar by 0.37%, gur by 0.19% and moong pulse by 0.03%.
Of the 51 items monitored, prices of 20 increased, six decreased and 25 remained unchanged during the week.
Onions, LPG and Electricity Lead Annual Price Increases
The annual comparison showed particularly steep increases in the prices of onions, LPG, electricity and petroleum products.
Onion prices surged by 100.24% year-on-year, while LPG became 68.55% more expensive. Electricity charges for the lowest consumption quintile (Q1) increased by 58.59%.
Petrol prices rose by 47.52% and diesel by 42.52% compared with the same period last year. Wheat flour prices increased by 32.60%.
Other notable annual increases included powdered chillies at 15.55%, mutton at 15.02%, beef at 12.60%, chicken at 9.44%, plain bread at 8.99% and curd at 8.08%.
In contrast, potatoes recorded a 39.51% annual decline, while tomatoes fell by 37.07%. Sugar prices decreased by 22.44% and eggs by 18.88%.
Other year-on-year declines were recorded in powdered salt, down 14.81%; masoor pulse, 9.79%; gur, 8.59%; and moong pulse, 8.37%.
Inflation Across Household Income Groups
The PBS data showed that annual inflation varied across consumption quintiles, with the highest increase affecting the fifth quintile.
Year-on-year SPI inflation stood at 9.41% for Q1, 11.17% for Q2, 9.78% for Q3, 10.21% for Q4 and 12.48% for Q5.
On a weekly basis, inflation ranged from 0.52% for Q1 to 0.60% for Q5, while the combined increase was 0.57%.
The SPI is designed to monitor short-term price changes in essential goods and provide an indication of inflationary pressures faced by households across different income groups.