Vegetable Prices in Pakistan This Week: Onions Rs 190 a Kilo, Double Last Year

Onions cost an average of Rs 190.31 a kilo across Pakistan in the week ended 8 October 2026. A year earlier they cost Rs 95.04. That is 100.24% more, so onions are now double last year's price, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Tomatoes and potatoes went the other way. Tomatoes averaged Rs 155.21 a kilo, 37.07% cheaper than a year ago. Potatoes averaged Rs 50.15, down 39.51%. Garlic is almost where it was in October 2025.

We read the PBS city annexes for 1 October and 8 October 2026 and compared the four vegetables PBS tracks in all 17 cities. Every price below is a PBS weekly average.

Onions are now double last year's price

The 17 city average for onions was Rs 190.31 a kilo on 8 October, up 0.47% in the week. The rise this week was small. The shock is the yearly change: onions have the biggest year-on-year rise of all 51 items in the weekly price index.

For a family using 5 kilos of onions a month, that is about Rs 476 more a month than a year ago, on our arithmetic. Onions go into almost every cooked meal, so few households can cut back much.

Islamabad and Rawalpindi are the dearest cities for onions, at Rs 242.59 and Rs 238.07 a kilo. Larkana is the cheapest at Rs 136.58, followed by Quetta at Rs 144.68.

Vegetable prices at a glance this week

Here are the four vegetables in the PBS weekly basket, as national averages. The year-ago column is the week ended 9 October 2025.

This week, tomatoes rose 2.40%, garlic 0.87% and onions 0.47%. Potatoes fell 0.89%. None of these moves is large on its own. The bigger changes this week were in flour and chicken, as our report on weekly inflation for 8 October sets out.

Onion and tomato prices in all 17 cities

City prices vary a lot. Tomatoes in Islamabad cost more than double the Quetta price. Onions in Islamabad cost about 78% more than in Larkana.

The highest onion price PBS found in any market was Rs 280 a kilo. The lowest was Rs 130. For tomatoes, the range ran from Rs 80 to Rs 220.

Tomatoes and potatoes are far cheaper than last year

A kilo of tomatoes now costs about Rs 91 less than a year ago. Potatoes cost about Rs 33 less. That is real relief at the vegetable stall, and it partly offsets the onion shock.

Tomato prices did move inside the week, though. Lahore went from Rs 183.82 to Rs 194.86 and Bahawalpur from Rs 153.26 to Rs 180. Sukkur fell from Rs 150 to Rs 120 and Larkana from Rs 153.26 to Rs 126.33.

Potatoes are the cheapest vegetable in the basket by far. Larkana and Bannu sell them at about Rs 32 to Rs 33 a kilo, less than half the Islamabad price of Rs 71.82.

PBS does not explain why onions doubled

PBS records prices. It does not give reasons for them. The federal food ministry's news page had no notice on onion supply or prices when we checked it on 9 October 2026.

Vegetable prices in Pakistan are not fixed by the federal government. They are set in wholesale markets, called mandis, and passed on by shops. District administrations can notify retail rates under provincial price control laws, and a shop charging above a notified rate can be fined.

In Punjab, you can see the official wholesale rates before you shop. The steps are in our page on checking mandi rates in Punjab on AMIS.

How to check a fair vegetable price in your city

The PBS city average is a yardstick, not a legal price. It helps you spot a shop that is far out of line.

1. Open the latest PBS weekly SPI release and download the city annex PDF.
2. Find Onions, Tomatoes, Potatoes or Garlic and read your city's minimum, average and maximum.
3. In Punjab, compare with the mandi rate for that day on AMIS.
4. Check whether your district has notified a retail rate list for vegetables.
5. Report overcharging against a notified rate. In Punjab the route is set out in our page on reporting overcharging in Punjab, and in Sindh in our page on reporting overcharging in Karachi and Sindh.

Vegetables swing with the weather and the harvest, so a price that is fair this week can be too high a week later.

Common questions

What is the onion price in Pakistan today?

The PBS national average was Rs 190.31 a kilo in the week ended 8 October 2026. City averages ranged from Rs 136.58 in Larkana to Rs 242.59 in Islamabad.

How much have onion prices gone up?

Onions are 100.24% dearer than a year ago, up from Rs 95.04 a kilo in the week ended 9 October 2025. They rose only 0.47% this week.

What is the tomato price in Pakistan this week?

Tomatoes averaged Rs 155.21 a kilo in the week ended 8 October 2026, up 2.40% in the week but 37.07% cheaper than a year ago.

Which city has the cheapest vegetables?

Larkana had the cheapest onions and potatoes in the PBS survey this week. Quetta had the cheapest tomatoes, at Rs 94.51 a kilo.

How often are these prices updated?

PBS publishes them every week, usually on Friday. The next release should cover the week ending 15 October 2026.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

We read these PBS documents on 9 October 2026, after the latest release went up that afternoon.

• PBS, SPI for the week ended 8 October 2026
• PBS city annex, 8 October 2026 (PDF)
• PBS city annex, 1 October 2026 (PDF)

The household onion cost, the rupee differences and the city percentage gaps are our own arithmetic on PBS figures.