ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index-based inflation continues to witness an upward trend, reaching 13.98 percent during the week ending on April 23, up from 12.16 percent calculated a week earlier, according to weekly data released on Friday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
According to the PBS, the annual SPI has witnessed the hike following an increase in the prices of electricity charges for Q1 by 54.02 percent, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 50.68percent, petrol by 44.10percent, diesel by 36.76percent, wheat flour by 36.06percent, onions by 31.89percent, tomatoes by 23.46percent, chili powder by 15.20percent, mutton by 15.18percent, beef by 13.27percent, powdered milk by 10.41percent and garlic by 9.96percent.
On a year-on-year basis, breaking down SPI by income groups, households with a monthly income of up to Rs 17,732 saw an increase of 11.38 percent, with SPI going up from 297.71 to 331.60 points. For the Rs 17,733-22,888 income group, SPI jumped up by 14.16%, going up from 294.37 to 336.06 points.
READ MORE: Weekly SPI inflation down 0.69pc
Households earning Rs 22,889-29,517 SPI recorded an increase of12.47 percent as it went up from 318.45 to 358.15 points, while the Rs 29,518-44,175 bracket recorded an increase of 12.28 percent from 309.00 to 346.93 points. The highest income group, Rs 44,175 and above, SPI recorded an increase of 13.45 percent, jumping up from 311.74 to 353.67 points.
The PBS data further revealed that on an annual basis, a reduction of 47.38 percent was recorded in the prices of potatoes, 19.92 percent in the gram pulse price, 13.22 percent in salt powder, 11.74 percent in sugar, 12.47 percent in Masoor Pulse, 1.63 percent in Moong Pulse, and 1.14 percent in Lipton tea.
Meanwhile, on a week-on-week (WoW) basis, a decrease is witnessed in the prices of tomatoes, 27.65 percent; onions, 9.35percent;diesel, 8.35percent; LPG, 7.08percent;garlic, 4.27percent; bananas, 0.47percent;wheat flour, 0.37percent;sugar, 0.36percent; and mustard oil,0.22percent.
On the other hand, on the WoW basis, an increase of 3.13 percent was witnessed in the prices of potatoes, 0.91 percent inbread, 0.85 percent in washing soap, 0.69percent in cooking oil (5-litre pack), 0.65 percent in long cloth, 0.61 percent in eggs, 0.45 percent in mutton, 0.4 percent in chicken, 0.30 percent in vegetable ghee, 0.27 percent inpulse, and 0.04 percent in the price of georgette.
During the week, of 51 items, the prices of 19 items, which constitute 37.25 percent of the SPI basket, increased; the prices of 9 items, or 17.65 percent, recorded a reduction; the prices of 23 items, or 45.10 percent of the basket, remained stable.
On a weekly basis, breaking down SPI by income groups, households with a monthly income of up to Rs 17,732 saw a 0.41 percent reduction, with SPI plunging from 332.97 to 331.60 points. For the Rs 17,733-22,888 income group, the SPI reduced by 0.36 percent, going down from 337.26 to 336.06 points.
Households earning Rs 22,889-29,517 recorded a 0.31 percent reduction in SPI as it went down from 359.27 to 358.15 points, while the Rs 29,518-44,175 bracket saw SPI jumping down by 0.30 percent from 347.98 to 346.93 points. The highest income group, Rs 44,175 and above, recorded a 0.34 percent reduction, taking SPI down from 354.89 to 353.67 points.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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