Weekly inflation rises by 0.49%

October 17, 2025 (MLN): Pakistan's short-term inflation increased by 0.49% compared to the previous week, while it rose by 4.57% compared to the same period last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday.

The largest week-on-week (WoW) price hikes were concentrated in specific food items.

Tomatoes saw the most significant rise at 33.20%, followed by Onions at 8.70% and Eggs at 2.18%. Other notable increases included Wheat Flour (1.42%), Garlic (0.85%), and Potatoes (0.71%).

In the non-food category, Firewood increased by 0.40%, and LPG saw a modest rise of 0.18%.

Conversely, major price decreases were observed in Chicken (-6.38%), Bananas (-4.70%), and Pulse Gram (-2.20%). Furthermore, non-food items like Petrol (-2.09%) and Diesel (-0.55%) also saw a decline.

Overall, out of the 51 monitored items, the prices of 24 items (47.06%) increased, 8 items (15.69%) decreased, and 19 items (37.25%) remained stable.

The 4.57% year-on-year increase in the combined SPI was largely driven by extremely high price inflation in certain commodities.

The price of Tomatoes surged by an astounding 121.38% compared to the corresponding week a year ago, making it the highest contributor to inflation.

Other significant YoY price increases were recorded for Ladies Sandal (55.62%), Sugar (36.94%), Gas Charges for Q1 (29.85%), and Wheat Flour (16.92%).

Despite the overall upward trend, several commodities were cheaper than the previous year.

Major YoY price decreases included Onions (-33.55%), Chicken (-29.81%), Pulse Gram (-28.86%), and Garlic (-28.48%). Additionally, Electricity Charges for Q1 saw a significant drop of -26.26% YoY.

The rate of weekly inflation varied across different consumption groups. The lowest expenditure group, Q1 (Upto Rs. 17,732), experienced the highest week-on-week increase at 1.07%.

As income levels rose, the percentage change decreased, with the highest consumption group, Q5 (Above Rs. 44,175), seeing the lowest increase at 0.29%.

The year-on-year inflation rate showed a similar pattern, with the Q1 group facing a 4.98% increase, while the Q5 group's inflation was measured at 3.61%.

The national average price for a 50 kg bag of Sona Urea fertilizer was reported as Rs4,377 for the week ended October 16, 2025.

The price for Sona Urea experienced a minor decrease of -0.28% in the WoW comparison, down from Rs4,390 on 09.10.2025.

The YoY trend for Sona Urea also showed a decline of -4.18% when compared to the average price of Rs4,568 recorded on October 17, 2024.

Meanwhile, the national average price for a 50 kg bag of Cement stood at Rs1,395 for the week ended  October 16, 2025.

The Cement price saw a minimal WoW increase of 0.03% over the previous week's average of Rs1,396.

However, the YoY comparison revealed that the average Cement price was lower by -4.04% than the Rs1,455 average recorded on  October 17, 2024.

PBS calculates short-term inflation using the SPI on a weekly basis to assess the price movement of essential commodities at shorter interval of time so as to review the price situation in the country.

SPI comprises 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities of the country.

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