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SPI shows 5.03% year-on-year increase; PBS data highlights mixed commodity trend
Aftab Maken
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s weekly inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), rose by 0.22% for the week ended October 23, 2025, driven by higher prices of key food and household items including onions, eggs, sugar and cooking oil, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The PBS report noted that the prices of onions surged by 5.62%, followed by energy savers (2.51%), eggs (2.38%), sugar (2.04%), firewood (1.17%), garlic (0.93%), bananas (0.80%), powdered milk (0.58%), beef (0.47%), and cooking oil (5-litre pack) (0.36%).
Conversely, a decline was recorded in the prices of chicken (–2.51%), rice IRRI-6/9 (–1.19%), pulse moong (–0.65%), LPG (–0.12%), gur (–0.08%), and wheat flour (–0.01%). Out of the 51 essential items monitored, prices of 20 items (39.22%) increased, 6 items (11.76%) decreased, while 25 items (49.02%) remained unchanged during the week.
The year-on-year SPI showed an overall inflation rise of 5.03% compared with the same week last year. The most significant annual increases were observed in tomatoes (120.94%), ladies’ sandals (55.62%), sugar (40.82%), gas charges for Q1 (29.85%), wheat flour (18.28%), gur (18.26%), beef (13.48%), firewood (12.68%), vegetable ghee 2.5 kg (12.46%), and diesel (9.75%).
However, notable year-on-year decreases were recorded in garlic (–29.90%), pulse gram (–28.23%), chicken (–26.32%), electricity charges for Q1 (–26.26%), onions (–26.06%), and potatoes (–19.65%). Prices of tea (–17.93%), pulse mash (–16.58%), pulse masoor (–3.66%), and LPG (–3.54%) also declined.
The SPI, which tracks short-term changes in the prices of 51 essential commodities collected from 50 markets across 17 cities, is a key indicator used to gauge household inflation trends in Pakistan.
Economists noted that the modest weekly rise reflects continued volatility in food prices, particularly perishables, amid supply chain disruptions and seasonal shifts. The PBS data comes as the government faces growing pressure to control prices ahead of the winter season, when energy and food costs typically surge.
