ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) recorded a marginal weekly decline of 0.03% for the week ended January 29, 2026, driven mainly by lower prices of key food items, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The weekly decline was led by a sharp drop in potato prices, down 7.81%, followed by onions (6.66%), salt powder (1.36%), wheat flour (1.17%), pulse masoor (0.75%), eggs (0.30%), gur (0.24%) and broken basmati rice (0.08%).
However, price increases were recorded in several items during the week, including tomatoes, which rose 7.53%, chicken (3.25%), bananas (3.07%), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (1.56%), pulse mash (1.49%), pulse gram (1.31%), chilli powder (0.66%), pulse moong (0.61%), firewood (0.37%), vegetable ghee (0.32%), shirting (0.25%) and cigarettes (0.24%).
Out of a total basket of 51 essential items, prices of 18 items, or 32.29% of the basket, increased during the week, while nine items, representing 17.65%, recorded a decline. Prices of the remaining 24 items, or 47.06%, remained unchanged.
On a year-on-year basis, the SPI showed an increase of 4.52%. Major annual increases were observed in eggs (42.85%), tomatoes (41.14%), wheat flour (38.29%), gas charges for the first consumption slab (29.85%), chilli powder (13.30%), beef (12.65%), firewood (11.54%), LPG (11.31%), powdered milk (10.00%), gur (9.25%), shirting (8.49%) and bananas (8.33%).
In contrast, notable year-on-year declines were recorded in potatoes (47.35%), garlic (35.89%), onions (31.40%), pulse gram (26.16%), branded tea (17.79%), chicken (14.88%), pulse mash (10.94%), salt powder (9.80%), diesel (1.27%) and petrol (0.95%).
Across income groups, the SPI declined for most categories. For households earning up to Rs17,732 per month, the index fell by 0.15% to 323.80 points. The Rs17,732–22,888 group recorded a decline of 0.12% to 324.25 points, while the Rs22,889–29,517 group posted a 0.09% drop to 346.06 points. The Rs29,518–44,175 income group saw a decrease of 0.07% to 332.86 points.
In contrast, the SPI for households earning above Rs44,175 per month rose slightly by 0.02% to 331.86 points.
Overall, the combined SPI for all expenditure groups stood at 333.49 points, down from 333.60 points in the previous week, reflecting a weekly decline of 0.03%.
