Weekly Inflation Falls but Remains High in Pakistan

Pakistan’s short-term inflation, as measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator, recorded a week-on-week decline of 0.69% for the period ending April 16, 2026, based on data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

The SPI for the combined consumption group decreased to 353.21 points from 355.66 points in the preceding week. However, on a year-on-year basis, inflation reflected an increase of 12.16% compared to the corresponding period last year.

The SPI, benchmarked to 2015–16 prices, monitors price movements across 51 essential commodities in 17 urban centres, segmented by income groups.

A decline in inflation was observed across all consumption brackets. The lowest income group (earning up to Rs17,732) recorded a 0.36% decrease, bringing the index to 332.97 points. Other income groups—Rs17,733–22,888, Rs22,889–29,517, Rs29,518–44,175, and above Rs44,175—experienced declines of 0.44%, 0.48%, 0.59%, and 0.84%, respectively.

During the review period, prices of 17 commodities declined, 17 increased, and 17 remained unchanged, indicating a mixed pricing trend across essential goods.

Among the notable price reductions, diesel recorded a significant decline of 25.77%, followed by chicken (10.07%), onions (6.63%), liquefied petroleum gas (4.15%), wheat flour (3.34%), and petrol (3.10%). Additional decreases were observed in items such as bananas, garlic, mustard oil, pulse mash, firewood, and potatoes.

Conversely, price increases were noted in several commodities, including tomatoes (6.27%), bread (3.27%), eggs (2.09%), and fresh milk (1.15%). Other items registering upward movement included lawn printed cloth, washing soap, long cloth, curd, mutton, shirting, powdered milk, and vegetable ghee.

On a year-on-year basis, significant price increases were recorded in tomatoes (69.35%), LPG (60.40%), diesel (49.22%), petrol (44.10%), onions (42.67%), gas charges (29.85%), and wheat flour (28.80%).

In contrast, certain commodities showed notable declines compared to the same period last year, including potatoes (45.43%), pulse gram (20.00%), salt powder (12.78%), sugar (11.65%), pulse masoor (11.63%), chicken (8.69%), and pulse moong (1.87%).