ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's inflation rate surged to nearly 11 percent in April, driven primarily by rising oil prices in the country. According to data released on Friday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), inflation was recorded at 10.9 percent in April, up significantly from 7.3 percent in March. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 2.5 percent in April 2026 as compared to an increase of 1.2 percent in the previous month and a decrease of 0.8 percent in April 2025.
Inflation Details and Comparisons
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for urban areas remained at 11.1 percent on a year-on-year basis in the last month. Meanwhile, the CPI inflation for rural areas increased by 10.6 percent in April 2026. For the first ten months of the current fiscal year (July–April), overall CPI inflation was recorded at 6.19 percent.
An inflation measure by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) increased by 4.12 percent, and the Wholesale Price Indicator (WPI)-based inflation enhanced by 2.31 percent. The inflation has gone beyond the government’s target during the previous month.
Government and Central Bank Response
The Ministry of Finance had already warned that inflation would increase within the range of 8.0-9.0 percent for April 2026 amid ongoing supply chain constraints. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) recently decided to increase the policy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to 11.50 percent. The SBP assessed that the current supply shock may push inflation to double digits in the coming months before it starts to ease subsequently. However, inflation is expected to stay above the upper bound of the target range of 5–7 percent for most of FY27.
Breakdown of Inflation Components
The break-up of inflation of 10.89 percent showed that food and non-alcoholic beverages prices increased by 7.63 percent last month. Similarly, health and education charges went up by 7.08 percent and 8.27 percent, respectively. Prices of utilities (housing, water, electricity, gas, and fuel) increased by 16.84 percent in the last month. Meanwhile, prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco went up by around 2.02 percent. Prices of clothing and footwear increased by 6.2 percent, and furnishing and household equipment maintenance charges rose by 3.81 percent.
Recreational charges and those related to culture went down by 5.07 percent in the period under review, while amounts charged by restaurants and hotels decreased by 5.27 percent in April 2026 as compared to the same month last year.
Rural and Urban Price Changes
In rural areas, food items that saw price increases included tomatoes (44.48 percent), fresh vegetables (25.75 percent), chicken (13.27 percent), onions (9.80 percent), eggs (9.52 percent), potatoes (6.70 percent), beverages (3.08 percent), pulse mash (2.76 percent), fresh fruits (2.29 percent), butter (2.07 percent), sweetmeat (1.58 percent), cooking oil (1.38 percent), mustard oil (1.33 percent), milk powder (1.20 percent), pulse moong (1.11 percent), and milk fresh (0.86 percent).
In non-food commodities, prices of the following items increased: liquified hydrocarbons (32.94 percent), motor fuels (19.59 percent), transport services (7.87 percent), construction input items (4.88 percent), solid fuel (3.51 percent), woolen cloth (2.77 percent), education (2.75 percent), plastic products (2.14 percent), and house rent (1.94 percent).
In rural areas, prices of the following items decreased: wheat (10.77 percent), wheat flour (4.98 percent), sugar (1.54 percent), wheat products (0.95 percent), pulse gram (0.94 percent), beans (0.71 percent), honey (0.63 percent), gram whole (0.29 percent), and besan (0.2 percent).
In urban areas, prices of the following commodities increased: tomatoes (57.10 percent), fresh vegetables (40.67 percent), eggs (14.38 percent), onions (9.23 percent), potatoes (4.43 percent), beverages (4.07 percent), milk products (3.54 percent), milk fresh (2.89 percent), chicken (2.69 percent), meat (2.66 percent), bakery and confectionary (2.64 percent), pulse mash (2.61 percent), readymade food (1.07 percent), and rice (0.99 percent).
