ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based inflation for the week ended on September 24 recorded an increase of 0.99 percent owing to an escalation in prices of electricity for Q1, which was hiked by 18.76 percent, eggs by 2.02 percent, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 1.55 percent.
The SPI data released here on Friday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed that the prices of other items that witnessed an increase included pulse masoor, increasing by 0.75 percent, chicken by 0.72 percent, washing soap by 0.59 percent, pulse gram by 0.34 percent, mutton by 0.31 percent, beef by 0.30 percent, curd by 0.27 percent, fresh milk by 0.14 percent, and wheat flour by 0.11 percent.
According to PBS data, during the week under review, the prices of the items that witnessed a decrease included tomatoes, declining by 13.45 percent, potatoes by 8.33 percent, bananas by 5.66 percent, onions by 2.42 percent, diesel by 1.57 percent, salt powder by 0.90 percent, petrol by 0.34 percent, sugar by 0.23 percent, mustard oil by 0.04 percent, and gur by 0.01 percent.
READ MORE: SPI-based inflation rises slightly
During the week, of 51 items, the prices of 20 items, which constitute 39.21 percent of the SPI basket, recorded an increase; the prices of 10items, or 19.61 percent of the basket, recorded a reduction; and the prices of 21 items, or 41.18 percent of the basket, remained stable.
The year-on-year (YoY) trend depicts an increase of 11.92 percent mainly driven by sharp escalation in the prices of onions, which hiked by 115.98 percent, LPG by 63.97 percent, electricity for Q1 by 58.59 percent, diesel by 51.80 percent, petrol by 47.49 percent, wheat flour by 32.41 percent, gents sponge chappal by 16.69 percent, chili powder by 16.37 percent, mutton by 15.75 percent, beef by 13.22 percent, firewood by 10.72 percent, plain bread by 8.96 percent, shirting by 8.38 percent, washing soap by 8.36 percent and fresh milk by 8.10 percent.
On a YoY basis, major reduction in the prices of potatoes that was down by 39.21 percent, sugar by 21.14 percent, tomatoes by 19.81 percent, eggs by 18.40 percent, salt powder by 14.73 percent, pulse gram by 11.65 percent, pulse masoor by 10.47 percent, pulse moong by 7.89 percent, gur by 7.30 percent, rice irri-6/9 by 3.28 percent, garlic by 3.03 percent, chicken by 2.51 percent, and rice basmati broken by 0.33 percent.
Breaking down SPI by income groups, households with a monthly income of up to Rs17,732 registered an increase of 0.85 percent, with SPI jumping up from 351.07 to 354.06 points. For the Rs17,733-22,888 income group, the SPI went up by 1.28 percent, going up from 352.87 to 357.40 points.
SPI for households with monthly earnings of Rs22,889-29,517 registered an increase of 0.81 percent, going up from 374.87 to 377.88 points, while the Rs29,518-44,175 bracket SPI went up by 0.62 percent, going up from 362.97 to 365.21 points.
The highest income group, Rs44,175 and above, recorded a 0.77 percent increase, taking SPI up from 366.32 to 369.45 points. The combined SPI jumped from 366.05 points to 369.69 points, reflecting an overall increase of 0.99 percent.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
Comments