By Moaaz Manzoor

Pakistan’s weekly inflation, measured through the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), increased by 1.89% for the week ended March 11, 2026, mainly due to a sharp rise in petrol, diesel and LPG prices, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The SPI monitors the price movement of 51 essential commodities collected from 50 markets across 17 cities, providing a short-term picture of inflation trends in the country.

The weekly increase was primarily driven by petrol prices, which surged by 20.60%, followed by diesel (19.54%) and LPG (12.13%). Other items that recorded increases included onions (9.63%), bananas (1.44%) and wheat flour (1.28%). Smaller increases were noted in chicken (0.66%), pulse mash (0.55%), firewood (0.38%), pulse gram (0.10%), fresh milk (0.08%) and cooked beef (0.02%).

On the other hand, several essential commodities registered price declines during the week. Tomatoes recorded the sharpest drop, falling by 3.66%, followed by potatoes (2.86%), garlic (0.42%), rice IRRI-6/9 and pulse masoor, both down by 0.19%, mustard oil (0.16%), pulse moong (0.12%) and sugar (0.09%).

Out of the 51 items included in the SPI basket, prices of 14 items (27.45%) increased, while 9 items (17.65%) declined and 28 items (54.90%) remained unchanged, indicating that upward pressure was concentrated in a limited number of key commodities, particularly fuel and energy-related items.

On a year-on-year basis, the SPI increased by 6.44% compared with the corresponding week of last year. The largest increases were recorded in diesel, which rose by 29.94%, followed by gas charges for Q1 (29.85%), LPG (29.21%), wheat flour (27.75%) and petrol (25.75%).

Other items showing notable annual increases included chili powder (15.20%), beef (12.00%), powdered milk (10.10%), mutton (9.61%), gur (7.10%), rice basmati broken (6.51%) and cooked beef (5.17%).

Conversely, several commodities were cheaper compared with the same week last year. Potatoes registered the largest decline, falling by 51.92%, followed by chicken (25.92%), eggs (23.76%), tomatoes (23.02%), pulse gram (19.76%), garlic (18.25%), powdered salt (12.52%) and sugar (12.02%).

Inflation trends also varied across different consumption groups. On a weekly basis, the SPI increased by 0.66% for the lowest consumption quintile (Q1), 0.94% for Q2, 1.12% for Q3, 1.50% for Q4 and 2.49% for Q5, with the overall combined rate recorded at 1.89%.

On a year-on-year basis, inflation rose by 5.16% for Q1, 6.77% for Q2, 5.90% for Q3, 5.49% for Q4 and 5.90% for Q5, while the overall combined rate stood at 6.44%.

The latest SPI data suggests that the sharp increase in fuel and energy-related prices played a central role in pushing up short-term inflation during the week, even though declines in some food items such as tomatoes, potatoes and garlic provided partial relief to consumers.

Credit: INP-WealthPk