The monthly inflation climbed to 13.76 per cent in May a two-and-a-half-year-high in the previous month on the back of increasing food prices, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday.
Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), accelerated from 13.37 percent year-on-year (YoY) in April, marking a 0.44 percent month-on-month (MoM) rise in May.
This is the highest CPI inflation since January 2020 when it was 14.6 percent.
According to the PBS, inflation increased by 12.36 percent in urban areas and 15.88 percent in rural areas.
The inflationary trend saw a 31.77 percent rise in transport sector, followed by food at 17.25 percent. Prices of perishable food items increased by 26.37 percent and non-perishable items by 15.94 percent, according to the PBS data.
Other categories that saw a double-digit increase included furnishing and household equipment maintenance (16.11 percent), restaurants and hotels (15.98 percent), miscellaneous goods and services (13.32 percent), recreation and culture (12.28 percent), clothing and footwear (11.29 percent), health (10.59 percent) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (10.13 percent).
