According to PBS for the week ended June 18, tomatoes, potatoes, and chicken have led to another price jump despite petrol and diesel prices coming down slightly, while the yearly SPI growth is over 15% because of onions, electricity, and wheat flour prices.
Pakistan’s weekly inflation index has moved higher yet again with household food items putting additional pressure on prices. For the week ending June 18, 2026, SPI inflation in Pakistan went up by 0.46 percent, according to the figures published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday.
What is causing the SPI inflation to rise weekly?
The SPI inflation increase is attributed to a group of food commodities whose prices moved up sharply during the week. They include tomatoes, which had a massive increase of 16.65%; potatoes increased by 6.82%, chicken increased by 5.60%, while washing soaps went up by 1.16%.
Other slight increments were seen in shirting (0.48%), long cloth (0.43%), eggs (0.35%), fresh milk (0.29%), and curd (0.26%). This is a wide range of food items that show the weekly pattern of inflation in the SPI basket of goods, where the whole basket is incrementally affected and not just one particular category.
SPI on year-on-year basis increases by 15.28%
The SPI on year-on-year basis rises by 15.28% due to significant annual rise in prices of several groups. The annual increase in prices was highest for onions, which is 79.76%, followed by tomatoes, which increased their prices by 68.59%, Q1 electricity charges (59.40%), wheat flour (58.72%), LPG (52.66%), petrol (44.73%), and diesel (44.39%). There were also several other items that showed double digit rise in their prices on annual basis.
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When the price fell from one year to another
Every product did not go up from last year. According to PBS, there were significant price falls in potatoes (−41.09%), eggs (−26.98%), pulse gram (−22.32%), sugar (−17.51%), salt powder (−14.09%), pulse masoor (−12.25%), pulse moong (−5.48%), and chicken (−4.24%) a proof that although the SPI inflation rate was rising steeply, some items were getting relatively cheaper than
| Item | YoY Change |
|---|---|
| Onions | +79.76% |
| Tomatoes | +68.59% |
| Electricity (Q1) | +59.40% |
| Wheat flour | +58.72% |
| LPG | +52.66% |
| Petrol | +44.73% |
The entire SPI basket performance for this week
Out of a total of 51 commodities that comprise the SPI basket, 25 (49.02%) witnessed an increase in prices, 11 (21.57%) experienced a decrease, and 15 (29.41%) remained stable.
Fuels and select vegetables are lower on a weekly basis
Though the general trend remains one of an increase in SPI inflation on a weekly basis, there are select products that have witnessed substantial weekly decreases. Onions decreased by 2.98%, garlic by 2.51%, bananas by 1.28%, and petrol by 1.06%. There were also other products that registered lower levels of weekly decrease.
The weekly SPI inflation rate measures the temporary changes in the prices of items that impact the household sector the most as the SPI takes into account items of everyday use, whereas the CPI is calculated based on items included in the consumer basket, which has to be done once a month. The recent changes in the prices of items such as tomatoes, potatoes, and chicken are a cause for concern despite a decline in fuel prices, and an annual inflation rate of 15.28% prevails.
Nayab Fatima is a university graduate and an emerging media professional with a strong passion for journalism, research, and independent reporting. She specializes in developing well-researched, fact-based, and analytical news stories covering a wide range of sectors, with particular expertise in technology, telecommunications, aviation, and the automobile industry.
