Pakistan’s short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator, rose by 1.16 percent for the week ending February 19, 2026, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The weekly increase was driven by higher prices for several key items. Bananas saw the steepest rise at 16.05 percent, followed by electricity charges for the first quarter at 15.41 percent.
Other notable increases included garlic at 5.86 percent, chicken at 5.49 percent, onions at 3.83 percent, tomatoes at 3.82 percent, diesel at 2.69 percent, petrol at 1.93 percent, and beef at 1.03 percent. Prices of cooking gas and mutton also inched up, while long cloth rose slightly by 0.28 percent.
Some items recorded price declines. Eggs led the fall with an 11.78 percent drop, while potatoes were down 2.24 percent and wheat flour fell 2.02 percent. Pulses, sugar, vegetable ghee, rice, mustard oil, and jaggery also saw modest decreases.
Overall, out of 51 items tracked, 17 saw price increases, 12 declined, and 22 remained unchanged.
Looking at year-on-year figures, the SPI showed a 5.19 percent rise. Tomatoes experienced the largest annual jump at 85.20 percent, followed by wheat flour at 31.33 percent and gas charges for the first quarter at 29.85 percent.
Other significant increases were seen in electricity charges, bananas, chili powder, beef, LPG, firewood, powdered milk, shirting cloth, mutton, and jaggery.
On the other hand, prices of potatoes, garlic, pulses, chicken, onions, tea, salt, eggs, and sugar fell over the year. Potatoes recorded the biggest decline at 45.43 percent.
Agricultural and construction inputs also saw changes. The average price of Sona urea reached Rs4,436 per 50 kg bag, up nearly threefold from last week but down 1.84 percent from last year. Cement prices edged higher to Rs1,426 per 50 kg bag, marking a 0.36 percent weekly increase and 5.2 percent rise from last year.
