February inflation rises by 7%

March 02, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation increased to 7% year-on-year (YoY) in February 2026, up from 5.8% in January 2026, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported today.

This compares to 1.5% recorded in February 2025.

On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, inflation increased by 0.27% in February 2026.

The YoY increase is the highest since October 2024 which came in at 7.2%.

Cumulatively, on a 8MFY26 basis, the average CPI stands at 5.46% compared to 5.85% in the same period last year.

Urban CPI inflation climbed to 6.8% year-on-year in February, up from 5.8% in January and sharply higher than the 1.8% recorded in February 2025.

On a monthly basis, urban prices rose 0.3%, building on a 0.2% increase in January and contrasting with a 0.7% decline in the same month last year.

Rural inflation accelerated further, rising to 7.3% YoY from 5.8% in January and well above the 1.1% registered in February 2025. Monthly rural prices increased 0.3%, easing from a 0.6% rise in January and reversing a 1.1% decline seen in February 2025.

The Sensitive Price Index rose 4.8% YoY in February, accelerating from 3.3% in January and swinging from a 0.2% contraction recorded in February 2025.

On a monthly basis, the SPI edged down 0.1%, a marked improvement from the 0.8% decline in January and the steeper 1.6% fall seen a year earlier.

Wholesale price pressures also firmed up. The Wholesale Price Index rose 1.0% YoY in February, compared to 0.2% in January and a 0.7% contraction in February 2025.

Core inflation signals were broadly contained. Urban non-food non-energy inflation eased marginally to 7.1% YoY from 7.2% in January, remaining below the 7.8% seen a year ago.

Monthly urban NFNE rose 0.2%, slowing from 1.0% in January. Rural NFNE held steady at 8.3% YoY, unchanged from January and significantly lower than the 10.4% recorded in February 2025. On a monthly basis, rural core prices rose 0.4%, easing from 1.1% the prior month.

The 20% weighted trimmed mean showed a modest uptick in underlying pressures.

Urban trimmed mean inflation edged up to 5.1% YoY from 4.9% in January and above the 4.6% in February 2025, with monthly growth of 0.2%.

The rural trimmed mean rose to 5.6% YoY from 5.4% in January and 5.2% a year earlier, with a monthly increase of 0.3%.

Overall, the February data points to a broadening of inflationary pressures, with headline inflation accelerating across both urban and rural economies and annual price growth running multiples above year-ago levels.

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