In May 2023, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped to 38.0 percent on Year-on-Year (YoY) basis in Pakistan, registering the highest ever inflation in the Country’s history.
Whereas the average inflation in the first 10 months of the Fiscal Year (2022-23) from July 2022 to April 2023 stood at 28.2 percent.
The Inflationary pressure in remaining months of the FY 2022-23 is expected to continue as observed in the previous months; therefore, by the end of the FY 2022-23, the Country would likely to record the second highest ever annual inflation in its history if not the highest one which was 30 percent recorded in the FY 1973-74.
Inflation in Pakistan in FY 2022-23
Month | CPI Inflation Rate |
| July 2022 | 24.9% |
| August 2022 | 27.3% |
| September 2022 | 23.2% |
| October 2022 | 26.6% |
| November 2022 | 23.8% |
| December 2022 | 24.5% |
| January 2023 | 27.6% |
| February 2023 | 31.5% |
| March 2023 | 35.4% |
| April 2023 | 36.4% |
| May 2023 | 38.0% |
Source: Monthly Economic Update & Outlook, Ministry of Finance
In Pakistan, May 2023 was the 19th consecutive month since November 2021 witnessing double digit inflation.
Inflation Rates in the World
Sr. | Country | Inflation Rate |
| 1 | Venezuela | 429% |
| 2 | Lebanon | 260% |
| 3 | Syria | 139% |
| 4 | Argentina | 114% |
| 5 | Türkiye | 39.59% |
| 6 | Pakistan | 38% |
| 7 | Egypt | 32.7% |
| 8 | Nigeria | 22.4% |
| 9 | Kazakhstan | 15.9% |
| 10 | Ukraine | 15.3% |
| 11 | Poland | 13% |
| 12 | Sweden | 9.7% |
| 13 | Austria | 9% |
| 14 | UK | 8.7% |
| 15 | Kenya | 8% |
| 16 | Italy | 7.6% |
| 17 | Australia | 7% |
| 18 | Norway | 6.7% |
| 19 | South Africa | 6.3% |
| 20 | Germany | 6.1% |
| 21 | Netherlands | 6.1% |
| 22 | Mexico | 5.84% |
| 23 | Singapore | 5.1% |
| 24 | France | 5.1% |
| 25 | Israel | 4.6% |
| 26 | Canada | 4.4% |
| 27 | India | 4.25% |
| 28 | Indonesia | 4% |
| 29 | United States | 4% |
| 30 | Brazil | 3.94% |
| 31 | South Korea | 3.3% |
| 32 | Japan | 3.2% |
| 33 | Spain | 3.2% |
| 34 | UAE | 3.05% |
| 35 | Denmark | 2.9% |
| 36 | Saudi Arabia | 2.8% |
| 37 | Russia | 2.5% |
| 38 | Switzerland | 2.2% |
| 39 | Thailand | 0.53% |
| 40 | Niger | 0.2% |
| 41 | China | 0.2% |
| 42 | Afghanistan | -1% |
| 43 | Seychelles | -1.02% |
Source: World of Statistics
Meanwhile, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the current week ended on June 22, 2023 increased by 0.33 percent in the Country.
During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 20 (39.22 percent) items increased, 12 (23.53 percent) items decreased and 19 (37.25 percent) items remained stable.
The year-on-year SPI trend depicted an increase of 34.05 percent.
