ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), increased 4.84 per cent year-on-year in the week ending Feb 5, owing to an increase in the retail price of tomatoes and onions in the domestic market.

The SPI-based inflation has been on an upward trend for the past 27 consecutive weeks. The increase is mainly driven by a surge in prices of perishable products, as well as pulses and meat.

It, however, increased by 0.09pc from the previous week due to higher prices of tomatoes and onions, official data showed on Friday.

The extraordinary spike in the retail prices of sugar and meat also fuelled the bullish trend. The price of meat has been steadily rising over the past few weeks.

The items whose prices increased the most over the previous week included tomatoes (12.78pc), bananas (8.16pc), onions (7.27pc), garlic (5.45pc), diesel (4.35pc), pulse mash (2.34pc), pulse moong (0.35pc), mustard oil (0.30pc) and mutton (0.24pc).

The items whose prices saw a decline week-on-week included wheat flour (2.89pc), eggs (2.86pc), pulse masoor (1.26pc), LPG (0.88pc), gur (0.73pc), salt powder (0.59pc), pulse gram (0.58pc), cooking oil 5 litre (0.52pc) and rice IRRI-6/9 (0.36pc).

However, on an annual basis, the items whose prices increased the most included tomatoes (79.70pc), eggs (38.87pc), wheat flour (34.69pc), gas charges for Q1 (29.85pc), bananas (13.49pc), chilies powder (13.30pc), beef (12.65pc), LPG (11.53pc), firewood (11.28pc), powdered milk (9.92pc), shirting (8.49pc) and gur (8.45pc).

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2026