Weekly inflation rises by 0.21pc

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2026) The weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive price Indicator (SPI), increased by 0.21 percent for the combined consumption group during the week ended on March 18, 2026, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Thursday.

According to the PBS data, the SPI for the week under review was recorded at 342.13 points, up from 341.42 points last week. On a year-on-year basis, the SPI registered an increase of 7.04 percent.

The weekly SPI with base year 2015-16 = 100 covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.

The SPI for the lowest consumption group (up to Rs 17,732) increased by 0.18 percent to 326.22 points from 325.62 points in the previous week.

The SPI for consumption groups of Rs 17,733–22,888; Rs 22,889–29,517; Rs 29,518–44,175; and above Rs 44,175 increased by 0.21 percent, 0.20 percent, 0.22 percent and 0.20 percent, respectively.

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 18 (35.29 percent) items increased, 9 (17.65 percent) items decreased and 24 (47.

06 percent) items remained stable.

Major commodities registering a week-on-week increase included tomatoes (24.85%), chicken (7.33%), bread (1.08%), energy saver (0.91%), cooked daal (0.65%), mustard oil (0.41%), cigarettes (0.40%), georgette (0.39%), firewood (0.36%), potatoes (0.33%), eggs (0.31%) and cooked beef (0.22%).

On the other hand, commodities witnessing a decrease included garlic (4.76%), LPG (2.67%), onions (2.52%), pulse masoor (1.34%), wheat flour (1.05%), sugar (0.76%), gur (0.65%), bananas (0.42%) and pulse gram (0.11%).

On a year-on-year basis, major increases were observed in the prices of diesel (29.94%), gas charges for Q1 (29.85%), wheat flour (26.46%), petrol (25.75%), LPG (23.86%), chilies powder (15.20%), beef (11.72%), powdered milk (10.10%), mutton (9.61%), gur (7.06%), rice basmati broken (6.51%) and cooked beef (5.40%).

Commodities witnessing a year-on-year decline included potatoes (50.52%), chicken (20.03%), eggs (19.81%), pulse gram (18.55%), garlic (17.53%), salt powder (12.55%), sugar (11.92%) and pulse masoor (11.80%).