ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index-based (SPI) inflation for the week ending March 18, 2026, rose by 0.21 per cent, primarily driven by higher prices of tomatoes, chicken, and bread, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday.
During the week under review, tomato prices surged by 24.85 per cent, chicken by 7.33 per cent, and bread by 1.08 per cent.
Other items that witnessed price increases included energy saver (0.91 per cent), cooked daal (0.65 per cent), mustard oil (0.41 per cent), cigarettes (0.40 per cent), georgette fabric (0.39 per cent), firewood (0.36 per cent), potatoes (0.33 per cent), eggs (0.31 per cent), and cooked beef (0.22 per cent).
Conversely, the week also saw reductions in the prices of several commodities. Garlic fell by 4.76 per cent, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 2.67 per cent, onions by 2.52 per cent, pulse masoor by 1.34 per cent, wheat flour by 1.05 per cent, sugar by 0.76 per cent, gur by 0.65 per cent, bananas by 0.42 per cent, and pulse gram by 0.11 per cent.
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Of the 51 items in the SPI basket, 18 items (35.29 per cent) recorded price increases, nine items (17.65 per cent) showed reductions, while 24 items (47.06 per cent) remained unchanged.
On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, SPI rose by 7.04 per cent, led by steep increases in diesel (29.94 per cent), gas charges for Q1 (29.85 per cent), wheat flour (26.46 per cent), petrol (25.75 per cent), LPG (23.86 per cent), chilli powder (15.20 per cent), beef (11.72 per cent), powdered milk (10.10 per cent), mutton (9.61 per cent), gur (7.06 per cent), broken basmati rice (6.51 per cent), and cooked beef (5.40 per cent).
Meanwhile, the YoY data also highlighted significant declines in certain items, with potatoes down 50.52 per cent, chicken 20.03 per cent, eggs 19.81 per cent, pulse gram 18.55 per cent, garlic 17.53 per cent, salt powder 12.55 per cent, sugar 11.92 per cent, and pulse masoor 11.80 per cent.
Breaking down SPI by income groups, households with a monthly income of up to Rs17,732 saw a 0.18 per cent increase, with SPI rising from 325.62 to 326.22 points.
For the Rs17,733-22,888 income group, SPI increased by 0.21 per cent to 329.25 points.
Households earning Rs22,889-29,517 recorded a 0.20 per cent rise to 350.92 points, while the Rs29,518-44,175 bracket saw SPI climb by 0.22 per cent to 338.82 points.
The highest income group, Rs44,175 and above, experienced a 0.20 percent increase, taking SPI to 341.97 points.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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