Weekly SPI increases by 0.27%

February 21, 2025 (MLN): Pakistan's short-term inflation increased by 0.27% compared to the previous week, while it rose by 1.21% compared to the same period last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 11 (21.57%) items increased, 16 (31.37%) items decreased and 24 (47.06%) items remained stable.

A major increase is observed in the prices of Bananas (11.89%), Eggs (7.80%), Chicken (4.47%), Garlic (1.08%), Sugar (0.65%), Beef (0.52%), Cigarettes (0.49%), Mutton (0.22%), Pulse Masoor (0.15%) and Washing Soap (0.07%).

On the other hand, a major decrease is observed in the prices of Tomatoes (2.81%), Diesel (1.49%), Pulse Gram (1.24%), Onions (1.16%), Potatoes (0.90%), Pulse Mash (0.60%), LPG (0.58%), Petrol (0.36%), Rice Basmati Broken (0.34%), Vegetable Ghee 1 kg (0.32%) and Pulse Moong (0.30%).

The year-on-year trend depicts an increase of 1.21%, Ladies Sandal (75.09%), Pulse Moong (28.07%), Pulse Gram (26.20%), Powdered Milk (25.84%), Bananas (24.15%), Beef (22.47%), Potatoes (20.71%), Garlic (19.18%), Vegetable Ghee 1Kg (16.41%), Gas Charges for Q1 (15.52%), Shirting (14.11%) and Firewood (12.73%).

While major decrease is observed in the prices of Tomatoes (58.82%), Onions (49.86%), Wheat Flour (37.05%), Chilies Powder (20.00%), Electricity Charges for Q1 (18.92%), Pulse Mash (12.03%), Pulse Masoor (11.43%), Rice Basmati Broken (9.15%), Diesel (8.07%), Rice IRRI-6/9 (7.60%), Petrol (6.97%) and LPG (1.32%).

The lowest income group experienced a weekly increase of 0.19%, while the inflation for the highest income group up by 0.28%.

On a yearly basis, analysis of SPI change across different income segments showed that SPI remained across all quantiles ranging between 0.35% and 1.60%.

Yearly SPI for the Lowest Income Group increased by 0.35% while the highest income group increased by 1.60%.

The average price of Sona urea stood at Rs4,519 per 50 kg bag, up by 0.34% from last week’s price, and a 8.30% decrease from last year.

Meanwhile, the average Cement price fell to Rs1,355 per 50 kg bag, which is 0.29% lower than the previous week, and 9.49% higher than prices last year.

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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