The consumer price inflation for food items in Pakistan was 45.1 per cent in February 2023 on a year-on-year basis – the highest in South Asia after Sri Lanka with 54.4 per cent, says the World Bank.
In its latest “Food Security Update”, the bank stated that across South Asia, domestic grain and wheat flour prices remained volatile in the beginning of 2023 and well above their year-earlier levels. In Pakistan, wheat flour prices in January 2023 reached record highs and were 20 to 140 per cent higher yearly.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) attributes the high prices to generally stagnant production since 2018, stock losses and disrupted trade flows due to the 2022 floods, high agricultural input and transportation costs, and high headline inflation.