The national Consumer Price Index (CPI) witnessed an increase of 14.6 percent on year-on-year (YoY) basis in January 2020 against the same period of 2019, monthly review of price indices released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed Saturday.

The PBS said that on month-on-month (MoM) basis, the CPI with base year 2015-16 during January 2020 against December 2019 at national level witnessed an increase of 2 percent from 130.45 points to 134.03 points while on annual basis CPI jumped up from 116.12 points to 134.03 points which reflects an increase of 14.56 percent.

The CPI inflation urban increased by 13.41 percent on year-on-year basis in January 2020 and increased from 117.07 points in January 2019 to 132.77 points, while on MoM basis CPI in January 20120 against December 2019 went up by 1.68 percent from 130.57 points to 132.77 points.

CPI inflation rural increased by 16.3 percent on year-on-year basis in January 2020 against January 2019 as it went up from 114.68 points to 133.42 points while on MOM basis rural CPI witnessed an increase of 2.41 percent and went up from 130.28 points in December 2019 to 133.43 points in January 2020.

Meanwhile, Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) based inflation on YoY basis increased by 18.26 percent from 113.94 points in January 2019 to 134.74 points in January 2020 and the MOM basis SPI went up by 0.45 percent from 134.13 points in December 2019 to 134.74 points in January 2020.

Wholesales Price Index (WPI) based inflation on YoY basis increased by 15.4 percent from 125.12 points in January 2019 to 144.34 points in January 2020 and on MoM basis the WPI witnessed an increase of 1.83 percent from 141.75 points to 144.34 points.

Core inflation measured by non-food non-energy urban CPI (Core NFNE) increased by 7.9 percent on YoY basis in January 2020 as compared to an increase of 7.5 percent in the previous month and 7.1 percent in January 2019. On MoM basis, it increased by 1.1 percent in January 2020 as compared to increase of 0.4 percent in the preceding month, and an increase of 0.7 percent in corresponding month of last year i.e. January 2019.

Core inflation measured by non-food non-energy rural CPI (Core NFNE) increased by 9.0 percent on YoY basis in January 2020 as compared to an increase of 8.1 percent in the previous month and 6.6 percent in January 2019.

On MoM basis core inflation increased by 1 percent in January 2020 as compared to an increase of 0.3 percent in the preceding month, and an increase of 0.2 percent in corresponding month of 2019.

Core inflation, measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean urban CPI (Core Trimmed) increased by 10.3 percent on YoY basis in January 2020 as compared to 9.6 percent in the previous month and by 6.7 percent in January 2019. On monthly basis, it increased by 1.2 percent in January 2019 as compared to an increase of 0.2 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.6 percent in corresponding month of January 2019.

Core inflation, measured by 20 percent weighted trimmed mean rural CPI (Core Trimmed) increased by 12.7 percent on annual basis in January 2020 as compared to 10.8 percent in the previous month and by 6.1 percent in January 2019. On monthly basis, it increased by 1.9 percent in January 2020 as compared to an increase of 0.3 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.4 percent in corresponding month of January 2019.

Main contributors to month-on-month and year-on-year percentage changes are given below:

Prices of the following commodities on MoM basis witnessed an increase: pulse Moong 19.74 percent, pulse gram 18.2 percent, chicken 17.53 percent, eggs 14.28 percent, wheat 12.63 percent, Besan 12.09 percent, fresh vegetables 11.7 percent, pulse Mash 10.29 percent, Gur 9.49 percent, beans 8.09 percent, wheat flour 7.42 percent, pulse Masoor 7.33 percent, condiments and spices 7.15 percent, gram whole 6.68 percent, sugar 5.07 percent, fresh fruits 3.93 percent, mustard oil 2.87 percent, wheat products 2.64 percent, vegetable ghee 2.18 percent, rice 1.2 percent, fish 1.19 percent, and dry fruits 1.09 percent.

On MoM basis, prices of the following food items witnessed a decrease: onions 18.37 percent, tomatoes 8.36 percent, and potatoes 3.69 percent. On monthly basis, prices of following non-food items increased: liquefied hydrocarbons 26.17 percent, marriage hall charges 5.58 percent, woolen cloth 3.08 percent, woolen readymade garments 2.51 percent, motor fuel 1.94 percent, house rent 1.88 percent, tailoring 1.4 percent, and doctor (MBBS) clinic fee 1.32 percent.

According to PBS, on MoM basis prices of the following non-food items decreased: electricity charges 2.18 percent.

On year-on-year basis, prices of the following commodities witnessed an increase: tomatoes 157.72 percent, onions 125.32 percent, fresh vegetables 93.6 percent, potatoes 87.3 percent, pulse Moong 79.12 percent, pulse Mash 48.61 percent, Gur 43.31 percent, wheat 36.13 percent, pulse gram 27.31 percent, sugar 26.29 percent, condiments and spices 24.43 percent, wheat flour 24.06 percent, Besan 22.94 percent, chicken 22.56 percent, beans 20.56 percent, pulse Masoor 19.88 percent, wheat products 18.62 percent, eggs 18.05 percent, vegetable ghee 17.56 percent, cooking oil 15.44 percent, meat 13.43 percent, dry fruits 12.95 percent, fish 11.9 percent, milk powder 11.43 percent, and mustard oil 10.99 percent.

On annual basis, prices of following non-food items increased: gas charges 54.84 percent, motor fuel 25.69 percent, construction input items 18.04 percent, motor vehicles 17.35 percent, liquefied hydrocarbons 14.06 percent, electricity charges 13.99 percent, woolen cloth 13.76 percent, mechanical services 13.52 percent, cotton cloth 12.81 percent, doctor MBBS clinic fee 12.67 percent, transport services 11.64 percent, and motor vehicle accessories 10.56 percent.

On account of WPI, prices of following items on MoM basis witnessed an increase:

poultry 20.01 percent, Sorghum/Jowar 17.08 percent, other cereal flour 12.37 percent, furnace oil 11.66 percent, wheat 10.97 percent, hides, skins & fur skins, raw 10.61 percent, bed foam 9.77 percent, eggs 9.43 percent, pulses 8.83 percent, other oil seeds 7.79 percent, cotton seeds 7.71 percent, wheat flour 7.32 percent, sugar 6.85 percent, edible roots/potatoes 6.8 percent, vegetable ghee 6.46 percent, Bajra 5.12 percent, and maize 5.12 percent.

Prices of following items on account of WPI on monthly basis witnessed a decrease: vegetables 2.25 percent and electrical energy 1.4 percent.

On account of WPI, prices of following items on YoY basis witnessed an increase: edible roots/potatoes 142.93 percent, vegetables 117.19 percent, stimulant & spice crops 69.74 percent, dyeing material 41.61 percent, cotton seeds 38.62 percent, wheat 33.71 percent, Sorghum/Jowar 30.03 percent, liquefied natural gas 29.36 percent, motor spirit 29.29 percent, sugar 28.31 percent, pulses 26.97 percent, poultry 26.39 percent, motor vehicles 25.53 percent, bed foam 25.18 percent, wheat flour 25.03 percent, electrical energy 24.74 percent, other cereal flour 24.35 percent, vegetable ghee 23.96 percent, printing paper 21.31 percent, pipe fittings 20.66 percent, other oil seeds 20.65 percent, and medicines 20.4 percent.