ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s short-term inflation rose by 0.38% compared to the previous week, but saw a decline of 1.61% compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The data, covering 51 essential items, revealed that prices of 22 items (43.14%) increased, while 9 items (17.65%) decreased, and 20 items (39.22%) remained stable during the week.
Notable price increases included chicken (8.31%), eggs (5.87%), diesel (4.15%), petrol (2.00%), onions (1.76%), garlic (1.70%), and potatoes (1.46%). Other items like firewood, cooked daal, mutton, powdered milk, and cigarettes also experienced slight increases.
On the other hand, the prices of tomatoes, which saw a substantial drop of 9.34%, bananas (1.57%), LPG (0.95%), and several pulses, such as pulse gram and pulse moong, decreased during the week. Wheat flour, cooking oil, sugar, and rice IRRI-6/9 also saw marginal price reductions.
Year-on-year trends showed a 1.61% decrease in the overall inflation rate, with significant price drops observed in onions (48.65%), tomatoes (48.44%), garlic (23.17%), and wheat flour (22.56%). Meanwhile, prices of ladies sandals, sugar, pulse moong, beef, and vegetable ghee saw notable increases compared to the same period last year.
Inflationary impacts were also observed across different income segments. The lowest income group experienced a modest weekly increase of 0.13%, while the highest income group saw a rise of 0.46%. On a yearly basis, inflation for the lowest income group decreased by 2.17%, while it remained relatively stable for higher-income groups, with a 0.45% decline.
The average price of urea increased by 0.21% week-on-week to Rs4,429 per 50 kg bag but decreased by 7.30% compared to last year. Similarly, cement prices fell by 0.71% week-on-week to Rs1,402 per 50 kg bag, showing a 4.30% year-on-year decrease.
The Short-Term Inflation (SPI) is calculated by PBS weekly to track price movements of essential commodities across various markets in 17 cities, providing key insights into the country’s price situation.
