Weekly Inflation Rises 1.40%, Tomato Prices Jump 22.79%

Pakistan’s weekly inflation rose 1.40% over the past week, pushing the annual rate to 13.09%, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

The Sensitive Price Indicator, which tracks essential household goods, showed 27 items becoming more expensive during the week — a broad spread suggesting cost pressure across food, fuel, and household essentials simultaneously rather than a spike concentrated in one category.

Tomatoes and chicken led the increases, both moving well beyond what’s typically considered normal weekly volatility. Tomato prices jumped 22.79% in just seven days, while broiler chicken rose 14.66% — increases sharp enough that both items now sit further out of reach for lower-income households already stretched by months of accumulated inflation. Because tomatoes and chicken feature in daily cooking across most Pakistani households, price swings in these two items tend to be felt immediately at the dinner table, unlike inflation in less frequently purchased goods.

Household cooking gas cylinders rose 12.46%, adding another direct hit to home cooking costs alongside food prices themselves. Petroleum products climbed as well, with diesel up 4.41% and petrol up 4.40% — increases that ripple beyond fuel pumps directly into transport costs, which in turn feed into prices for everything trucked or transported to market, including the same food items already seeing sharp increases this week.

Garlic rose 3.72% and eggs increased 2.15%, while onions, potatoes, tea leaves, and firewood also saw price increases, according to the bureau’s report. The breadth of items affected — spanning fresh produce, protein, cooking fuel, and transport fuel together — points to a week where inflationary pressure hit multiple points in the household budget at once rather than easing in some categories while rising in others.

The 13.09% annual rate reflects a economy still working through elevated price levels even as Pakistan’s central bank has cited disinflation as a policy priority in recent monetary decisions. Weekly SPI readings have shown periodic volatility throughout the year, with spikes often tied to seasonal supply gaps in perishables like tomatoes, which are especially sensitive to weather disruptions and transport bottlenecks between growing regions and urban markets.

Whether this week’s jump proves a temporary supply-driven spike or the start of a sustained climb will likely depend on food supply chains stabilizing in the coming weeks. Given how frequently perishable items like tomatoes have driven short-term SPI swings in the past, continued volatility in weekly readings remains likely even if the underlying annual trend moves gradually in either direction.