ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s weekly inflation increased by 0.49 percent in the week ended September 17, 2026, mainly due to higher prices of several essential commodities, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) climbed to 366.05 points during the week from 364.26 points a week earlier. On a year-on-year basis, the SPI recorded an increase of 10.64 percent.
The SPI, based on 2015-16 as the base year, tracks price movements of 51 essential items across 17 urban centres and covers different household expenditure groups.
Among the various income groups, households with weekly consumption expenditure of up to Rs17,732 saw their SPI decline by 0.14 percent.
The index for the Rs17,733–22,888 expenditure group edged up 0.01 percent, while the Rs22,889–29,517 group recorded a 0.14 percent increase.
For households spending Rs29,518–44,175, the SPI rose by 0.30 percent, while the highest expenditure group, with spending above Rs44,175, recorded the largest weekly increase of 0.77 percent.
Of the 51 items monitored during the week, prices of 19 items, or 37.25 percent, increased. Prices of nine items, accounting for 17.65 percent, declined, while 23 items, or 45.10 percent, remained unchanged.
Among items registering weekly increases were powdered milk, which rose 0.40 percent, followed by wheat flour at 0.28 percent, IRRI-6/9 rice at 0.16 percent and sugar at 0.14 percent.
On an annual basis, onions recorded the sharpest increase, with prices rising 117.77 percent. LPG prices went up 60.42 percent, diesel 54.21 percent and petrol 48 percent.
Electricity charges for the first quarter increased 33.54 percent year-on-year, while wheat flour became 33.27 percent more expensive.
Several food items, however, recorded year-on-year declines. Potato prices fell 35.31 percent, followed by sugar at 20.95 percent, eggs at 19.31 percent and chicken at 15.26 percent.
Prices of powdered salt declined 13.96 percent, gram pulse 12.42 percent, masoor pulse 11.26 percent and moong pulse 8.49 percent.
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