ISLAMABAD: (Choudhry Mudasser) – The latest PBS weekly inflation data shows that prices went up by 0.65 percent in the week ended October 22, 2026. The jump was mainly caused by costlier LPG, chicken and onions.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said the rise reversed last week’s fall of 0.04 percent. On a yearly basis, inflation also moved higher, from 11.38 percent to 11.85 percent.
LPG saw the biggest weekly increase, at 22.44 percent. The average price of an 11.67-kilogram cylinder went up from Rs5,154.16 to Rs6,310.76 in just one week.
Chicken also became much more expensive. Live chicken rose by 12.20 percent, from Rs395.98 to Rs444.27 per kilogram.
Onion prices went up by 4.19 percent. They moved from Rs180.99 to Rs188.57 per kilogram.
Other items also cost more. Shirting rose 1.86 percent, plain bread 1.66 percent and wheat flour 1 percent. A 20-kilogram bag of flour now costs Rs2,976.12, up from Rs2,946.72.
Garlic, firewood, georgette, vegetable ghee, beef and pulse mash also saw small increases of less than one percent.
Some relief came from falling prices. Tomatoes had the biggest drop, at 21.99 percent. Their average price came down from Rs119.43 to Rs93.17 per kilogram.
Fuel prices also went down. Petrol fell 3.63 percent to Rs381.67 per litre, while diesel dropped 1.68 percent to Rs392.17 per litre.
Bananas, potatoes, gram, eggs, powdered milk, broken basmati rice and sugar also became cheaper this week.
The bureau tracks 51 essential items. Of these, 19 items, or 37.25 percent, became more expensive. Twelve items, or 23.53 percent, got cheaper, and 20 items, or 39.22 percent, stayed the same.
Compared with the same week last year, the picture is much harder for families. LPG is up 107.12 percent and onions are up 72.81 percent. Electricity for the lowest-use group is up 58.59 percent.
Petrol is 44.17 percent higher than last year, and diesel is up 41.56 percent. Chicken is 38.99 percent costlier, while wheat flour has risen 36.49 percent.
Not everything went up over the year. Tomatoes are 71.72 percent cheaper than last year. Potatoes are down 40.75 percent, sugar 25 percent and eggs 22.14 percent.
The data also shows how different households are affected. The highest-spending group saw weekly inflation of 0.74 percent and yearly inflation of 12.69 percent.
For the lowest-spending group, with monthly spending of up to Rs17,732, prices rose 0.51 percent in the week and 8.45 percent over the year.
The second group recorded 0.49 percent weekly and 10.37 percent yearly inflation. The third group saw 0.54 percent and 9.33 percent. The fourth group saw 0.56 percent and 9.90 percent.
The combined Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) rose to 374.84 points. It was 372.43 points a week ago and 335.14 points in the same week last year.
The PBS collects prices of the 51 items from 50 markets in 17 cities. The aim is to track short-term changes in the cost of living.
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