Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation increased to 29.7 per cent during December 2023 as compared to the same month of last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Monday. The inflation had increased to 29.2 per cent during last month (November) whereas it was recorded at 24.5 per cent during December 2022, according to the PBS data.
On a month-on-month basis, the inflation increased to 0.8 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 2.7 per cent in the previous month and an increase of 0.5 per cent in December 2022.
The urban CPI inflation increased to 30.9 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 30.4 per cent in the previous month and 21.6 per cent in December 2022. On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, it increased to 0.7 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 4.3 per cent in the previous month and an increase of 0.3 per cent in December 2022. On the other hand, the rural CPI increased to 27.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 27.5 per cent in the previous month and 28.8 per cent in December 2022.
On a month-on-month basis, it increased to 1.0 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 0.4 per cent in the previous month and an increase of 0.7 per cent in December 2022.
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based inflation on YoY increased to 35.3 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 30.6 per cent a month earlier and 27.8 per cent in December 2022. On the MoM basis, it increased by 3.8 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 3.3 per cent a month earlier and an increase of 0.2 per cent in December 2022.
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation on a YoY basis to 27.3 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 26.4 per cent a month earlier and an increase of 27.1 per cent in December 2022. On the MoM basis, there was no change in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 1.4 per cent a month earlier and a decrease of 0.7 in the corresponding month of last year i.e. December 2022. The core inflation measured by non-food non-energy Urban increased to 18.2 per cent on YoY basis in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 18.6 per cent in the previous month and 14.7 per cent in December 2022. On a MoM basis, it increased by 0.8 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 0.9 per cent in the previous month, and an increase of 1.2 per cent in the corresponding month of last year i.e. December 2022. The core inflation measured by non-food non-energy Rural increased to 25.1 per cent on YoY basis in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 25.9 per cent in the previous month and 19.0 per cent in December 2022. On MoM basis, it increased by 0.9 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 1.4 per cent in the previous month, and an increase of 1.5 per cent in the corresponding month of last year i.e. December 2022. According to the data, the urban core inflation (Trimmed) measured by 20 per cent weighted trimmed mean Urban increased to 23.3 per cent on a YoY basis in December 2023 as compared to 22.9 per cent in the previous month and 19.4 per cent in December 2022. On MoM basis, it increased by 0.3 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 0.1 per cent in the previous month and an increase of 0.8 per cent in the corresponding month of last year i.e. December 2022. The rural core inflation, measured by 20 per cent weighted trimmed mean Rural increased to 28.0 per cent on YoY basis in December 2023 as compared to 27.9 per cent in the previous month and 26.4 per cent in December 2022. On MoM basis, it increased to 0.7 per cent in December 2023 as compared to an increase of 0.5 per cent in the previous month and an increase of 1.5 per cent in the corresponding month of last year i.e. December 2022.
