The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which tracks the weekly movement of essential commodities, recorded a 5.03% year-on-year (YoY) increase for the week ending October 23, 2025, as per data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The rise reflects persistent inflationary pressures, particularly in food and energy-related items, with the highest impact on lower-income groups. Inflation across different consumption quintiles ranged from 4.05% to 6.06%.
On a week-on-week (WoW) basis, the SPI increased by 0.22%, indicating that short-term price pressures continue despite some relative stability in certain items.
Among the key contributors to inflation, tomato prices surged by 120.94% compared to the same week last year, making it the largest driver of food inflation. Other significant YoY increases included ladies’ sandals (55.62%), sugar (40.82%), gas charges for Q1 (29.85%), wheat flour (18.28%), and gur (18.26%). Prices of diesel (9.75%) and eggs (9.40%) also rose, putting additional strain on household budgets.
However, some items saw a price decline over the year. Garlic prices fell by 29.90%, followed by pulse gram (-28.23%), chicken (-26.32%), and electricity charges for Q1 (-26.26%). Onions (-26.06%) and potatoes (-19.65%) also experienced significant YoY reductions.
In terms of weekly price changes, the SPI saw a small rise of 0.22%, driven by higher prices for onions (5.62%), energy savers (2.51%), eggs (2.38%), sugar (2.04%), and firewood (1.17%). Smaller weekly increases were observed in garlic (0.93%), bananas (0.80%), and powdered milk (0.58%).
A slight decline was recorded in chicken prices (-2.51%), rice (IRRI-6/9) (-1.19%), pulse moong (-0.65%), and LPG (-0.12%).
Out of the 51 items tracked, 20 saw price increases, 6 decreased, and 25 remained stable during the week.
Inflationary pressures continued to vary across income groups, with the lowest-income households (Q1) facing a 5.46% YoY increase, while the highest-income group (Q5) experienced a more modest rise of 4.05%. Weekly increases for all income groups ranged between 0.21% and 0.27%, indicating that price fluctuations have a broad impact on consumers.
