By Moaaz Manzoor

Pakistan’s weekly inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased by 0.37% for the week ended March 5, 2026, mainly driven by higher prices of chicken, LPG, bananas and petroleum products, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The SPI tracks the price movement of 51 essential commodities collected from 50 markets across 17 cities to provide a short-term picture of inflation trends in the country.

The weekly rise was led by chicken prices, which surged 10.46%, followed by LPG, which increased 5.61%. Prices of bananas rose 3.85%, while petrol and diesel recorded increases of 3.06% and 1.84%, respectively.

Other notable price increases during the week included garlic (1.23%), beef (0.66%), mutton (0.65%), pulse mash (0.51%), lawn printed cloth (0.43%), gur (0.30%) and mustard oil (0.24%).

On the other hand, several essential food items recorded weekly declines. Tomatoes registered the sharpest drop, falling 10.04%, followed by eggs which declined 8.13%. Prices of onions fell 6.08%, potatoes dropped 5.09% and wheat flour decreased 2.40%.

Additional items that registered price reductions included pulse gram, which declined 0.50%, pulse moong which decreased 0.43% and cooking oil (5 litre), which recorded a 0.37% decline during the week.

During the week under review, out of the 51 items included in the SPI basket, prices of 13 items, or 25.49%, increased, while prices of 11 items, representing 21.57%, declined. Prices of the remaining 27 items, accounting for 52.94% of the basket, remained unchanged.

On a year-on-year basis, the SPI increased by 4.70% compared to the corresponding week of last year.

Major annual increases were recorded in gas charges for Q1, which rose 29.85%, followed by wheat flour which increased 26.13%. Electricity charges for Q1 rose 17.33%, LPG increased 16.89% and chili powder registered a rise of 15.20%.

Other commodities that recorded notable annual increases included beef (12.36%), firewood (11.40%), powdered milk (10.16%), mutton (9.32%), tomatoes (9.02%), gur (8.51%) and rice basmati broken (6.18%).

Conversely, several commodities recorded notable year-on-year declines. Potatoes registered the largest decrease of 53.76%, followed by onions which declined 26.10%. Eggs fell 24.93%, garlic declined 22.25% and chicken decreased 21.70%.

Additional annual declines were recorded in pulse gram, which dropped 21.37%, salt powder which fell 12.52% and pulse masoor which declined 10.71%.

Inflation trends also varied across different consumption groups. On a weekly basis, SPI remained unchanged at 0.00% for the lowest consumption quintile (Q1). It increased 0.09% for Q2, 0.16% for Q3, 0.26% for Q4 and 0.53% for Q5, with the overall combined rate recorded at 0.37%.

On a year-on-year basis, inflation increased 4.57% for Q1, 5.95% for Q2, 4.91% for Q3, 4.16% for Q4 and 3.58% for Q5, while the combined overall rate stood at 4.70%.

Credit: INP-WealthPk