Pakistan’s Weekly Inflation Falls by 0.33%: PBS

Pakistan’s weekly inflation rate, measured through the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), recorded a decline of 0.33% for the week ending May 21, 2026, primarily due to reductions in prices of chicken, electricity charges, petrol, and diesel, according to official data released by the PBS.

The SPI, which monitors the prices of 51 essential commodities across 50 markets located in 17 cities nationwide, nevertheless recorded a year-on-year increase of 14.47%.

On a week-on-week basis, chicken prices posted the largest decrease at 8.56%, followed by electricity charges applicable to the first consumption quintile, which declined by 6.08%. Additional decreases were observed in garlic prices at 3.53%, pulse moong at 1.45%, and petrol and diesel prices at 1.21% each.

Prices of LPG also declined by 0.87%, while comparatively smaller reductions were recorded in pulse gram, bananas, eggs, and pulse mash.

Conversely, tomato prices increased by 7.17% during the week, onions rose by 6.08%, and wheat flour prices increased by 1.84%. Upward price movement was also recorded in potatoes, cooked daal, prepared tea, curd, and cooking oil.

PBS data further showed that among the 51 monitored commodities, prices of 26 items increased, 11 items declined, and 14 items remained unchanged during the review period.

On an annual basis, onions recorded the sharpest increase at 68.33%, followed by petrol at 62.24%, diesel at 60.90%, wheat flour at 59.45%, and LPG at 50.73%.

Electricity charges applicable to the lowest income category were 43.30% higher compared to the corresponding week of the previous year, while tomato prices rose by 34.58%.

Other commodities recording notable annual increases included mutton at 15.86%, chili powder at 15.20%, garlic at 13.39%, beef at 12.92%, and bananas at 10.55%.

Among commodities showing annual declines, potatoes fell by 42.02%, eggs declined by 24.47%, pulse gram decreased by 21.84%, and chicken prices were lower by 21.79% compared to the same period last year.

The weekly SPI decline varied across income groups, with the fifth consumption quintile recording the largest reduction of 0.36%, while the combined national index declined by 0.33%.