Web Desk, October 20, 2025
Tomato prices have skyrocketed in cities including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Multan, Sialkot, and Chiniot, straining household budgets amid widespread shortages.
In Lahore’s Singh Pura vegetable market, 5 kg of tomatoes are being sold for Rs2,000, while retail rates in the same market stand at Rs450 per kg. In general markets, prices range from Rs500 to Rs525 per kg, despite the official rate being fixed at Rs175 per kg.
In Peshawar, the official rate is Rs330 per kg, but tomatoes are available at Rs500 per kg in the vegetable market and Rs600 to Rs630 per kg in retail outlets.
Multan’s market committee has set the price at Rs170 per kg, yet the market offers it at Rs280 per kg, with retail sales at Rs400 per kg. In Sialkot, tomatoes are fetching Rs700 per kg against an official rate of Rs130 per kg. Chiniot’s market sees prices between Rs400 and Rs460 per kg.
In Karachi, the situation is even more acute, with retail prices climbing to Rs450-Rs550 per kg—surpassing chicken meat at Rs450 per kg—and reaching as high as Rs560 per kg in some areas, double the wholesale rate of Rs250-Rs300 per kg. Quetta offers some relief at around Rs300 per kg.
Private TV channels and traders attribute the crisis primarily to Pak-Afghan tensions, which have led to border closures, halting truckloads of tomatoes that typically supply Pakistan during October-November. Additional factors include the decline of Balochistan’s tomato crop, reduced imports from Iran, and administrative lapses allowing vendors to exploit weak oversight.
The weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) reflects this trend, with tomato prices jumping 33.20% in the week ending October 16, contributing to a 0.49% rise in overall inflation. New supplies from Sindh are expected next month, but until then, the shortage persists, driving continued price hikes
