By Moaaz Manzoor

Pakistan’s weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased by 0.16% during the week ended June 11, 2026, mainly due to higher prices of tomatoes, LPG, potatoes, cigarettes and vegetable ghee, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The SPI, which tracks the prices of 51 essential commodities across 50 markets in 17 urban centres, serves as a key indicator of short-term inflation trends in the country.

According to PBS, tomato prices recorded the sharpest weekly increase, rising 35.39% during the week under review. LPG prices increased by 11.03%, while potato prices rose by 1.40%.

Other items that registered price increases included cigarettes, up 0.46%, vegetable ghee (2.5kg) 0.40%, cooking oil (5 litres) 0.27%, vegetable ghee (1kg) 0.24% and fresh milk 0.21%. Prices of gur and bread also increased by 0.10% each.

The overall increase in weekly inflation was partly offset by declines in several food and fuel items.

Egg prices recorded the largest weekly decrease, falling 9.62%, followed by chicken at 5.73% and onions at 4.61%. Petrol prices declined by 1.04% during the week.

Among other commodities, garlic prices decreased by 0.98%, pulse mash 0.23%, wheat flour 0.21%, bananas 0.19%, mustard oil 0.17%, pulse gram 0.15% and pulse moong 0.02%.

Of the 51 items included in the SPI basket, prices of 12 increased, 11 declined, and 28 remained unchanged, indicating that inflationary pressures persisted in several essential commodities despite lower prices of poultry, eggs and some fuel products.

On a year-on-year basis, weekly inflation increased by 15.06% compared with the corresponding week last year.

Among the major contributors to annual inflation, onion prices surged 85.43%, followed by LPG at 74.45% and wheat flour at 59.62%.

Electricity charges for the first quarter were 59.40% higher than a year ago, while diesel prices increased by 49.63% and petrol by 49.03%. Tomato prices rose 36.40%, mutton 15.73%, chilli powder 15.20%, beef 12.87%, garlic 12.41% and bread 8.66%.

At the same time, several food items remained cheaper than a year earlier. Potato prices declined by 42.79%, followed by eggs at 34.17% and pulse gram at 22.56%.

Sugar prices were 15.71% lower on a yearly basis, while salt powder declined 13.26%, pulse masoor 12.07%, chicken 7.35% and pulse moong 4.66%.

The PBS data also showed varying inflation trends across expenditure groups. The SPI for the lowest expenditure quintile increased by 0.19% during the week, while the second expenditure group recorded a rise of 0.12%.

Inflation increased by 0.11% for the third expenditure group, 0.08% for the fourth group and 0.20% for the highest expenditure group.

On an annual basis, inflation stood at 12.63% for the lowest expenditure group and 14.51% for the highest expenditure group. The second expenditure group recorded an annual inflation of 15.36%, while the third and fourth groups posted annual inflation rates of 13.52% and 13.25%, respectively.

The annual SPI inflation stood at 15.06%, highlighting the continued pressure of food, energy and household costs on consumers despite declines in several key commodities.

Credit: INP-WealthPk