ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), increased 3.20 per cent year-on-year in the week ending Jan 8 due to rising retail prices of wheat flour, sugar and rice.

The SPI-based inflation recorded an upward trend for the past 23 consecutive weeks. The increase is mainly driven by a surge in prices of perishable products, as well as chicken, and edible oil prices.

It, however, increased by 0.12pc from the previous week due to a consistent increase in non-perishable food items, official data showed on Friday.

The extraordinary spike in the retail prices of sugar and meat also contributed to the reversal of deceleration in short-term inflation during the past weeks.

The items whose prices increased the most over the previous week included wheat flour (5.07pc), chic­k­­en (2.86pc), garlic (2.44pc), chilli powder (1.01pc), LPG (0.88pc), tea prepared (0.73pc), shirting (0.61pc), sugar (0.58pc), bread (0.51pc), rice basmati broken (0.41pc) and firewood (0.25pc).

However, on an annual basis, the items whose pr­­ices increased the most in­­c­­luded wheat flour (31.12pc), gas charges for Q1 (29.85pc), beef (13.15pc), chilli powder (11.43pc), sugar (11.18pc), bananas and firewood (10.57pc) each, gur (10.50pc), powdered milk (9.51pc), shirting (8.73pc), lawn printed (8.29pc) and eggs (8.03pc).

The pri­­ces of 21 items increa­sed, eight decreased and those of 22 items remained stable compared to the previous week.­ Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026