Pakistan’s inflation stays above 10% in September 2026 as fuel, transport costs surge

Profit reported, citing the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, that headline inflation stayed in double digits in September 2026 at 10.3% on an annual basis. The rate was below August's 11.1%, but still roughly double the 5.8% seen twelve months earlier. Higher transport and energy costs kept prices under pressure through the month.

Month on month, the CPI rose 1.3% in September after a 1.2% gain in August. Transport was the fastest-rising major group, up 27.43% annually and 5.75% monthly, while the housing group, covering electricity, gas and fuels, rose 12.39% from a year earlier. Food was far milder in September, with the group up only 0.19% monthly, although urban onion prices jumped 29.17% in the same period.

Core inflation eased in urban and rural areas, though the 20% weighted trimmed-mean readings rose. Wholesale inflation accelerated instead, reaching 13.33% year on year from 11.8% in August, with motor spirit and electrical energy among the largest monthly rises.