Pakistan’s weekly SPI inflation for March 2026 recorded a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 4.70% for the week ended March 5, 2026, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) tracks prices of 51 essential commodities across 17 urban centres to capture short-term inflation trends. PBS data showed a modest rise compared with the same week last year.
Several items posted notable YoY increases. Gas charges for Q1 rose 29.85%, followed by wheat flour (26.13%), electricity charges for Q1 (17.33%), and LPG (16.89%).
Other annual gains were seen in chilli powder (15.20%), beef (12.36%), firewood (11.40%), powdered milk (10.16%), mutton (9.32%) and tomatoes (9.02%). Gur (8.51%) and broken Basmati rice (6.18%) also increased.
However, several items declined sharply over the year. Potatoes fell 53.76%, while onions (26.10%), eggs (24.93%), garlic (22.25%) and chicken (21.70%) also dropped. Prices of pulse gram (21.37%), salt powder (12.52%) and pulse masoor (10.71%) decreased as well.
Week-On-Week SPI Shows Slight Upward Pressure
On a week-on-week (WoW) basis, the SPI increased 0.37% compared with the week ended February 26, 2026.
The weekly rise was led by chicken (10.46%), LPG (5.61%), bananas (3.85%), petrol (3.06%) and high-speed diesel (1.84%). Smaller gains were recorded in garlic (1.23%), beef (0.66%), mutton (0.65%), pulse mash (0.51%), printed lawn cloth (0.43%), gur (0.30%) and mustard oil (0.24%).
At the same time, several essentials became cheaper during the week. Tomatoes fell 10.04%, eggs (8.13%), onions (6.08%) and potatoes (5.09%). Wheat flour declined 2.40%, while pulse gram (0.50%), pulse moong (0.43%) and cooking oil (five-litre tin) (0.37%) also edged down.
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Overall, PBS reported that out of 51 items, prices of 13 increased, 11 decreased, and 27 remained unchanged during the week.
PBS data showed differences across income groups. The lowest consumption quintile recorded a YoY increase of 4.57%, while the highest-income group recorded a lower increase of 3.58%, suggesting slightly higher pressure on lower-income households.
CPI Update: February 2026 Inflation Picks Up
PBS also reported that the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 7% YoY in February 2026, compared with 5.8% in January 2026 and 1.5% in February 2025. On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, CPI rose 0.3% in February 2026.
In urban areas, CPI rose 6.8% YoY, while rural CPI increased 7.3% YoY, reflecting stronger price pressure in rural areas during the month.
