Croatian Bureau of Statistic has announced that the prices of goods and services for personal consumption, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.2% on average MoM and 3.1% YoY.

According to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, CPI noted a 3.1% YoY increase, its highest figure since April of 2013. However, this does not come as a surprise, given that relatively high inflation figures seem to be a trend globally for some time now. One can argue to a certain extent that such figures could be attributed to a base effect of 2020. Moreover, the strong increase in prices seen on the commodities market this year market definitely led to higher inflationary pressure.

When breaking down the CPI by main groups by the purpose of consumption, the prices of Alcoholic beverages and Tobacco remained unchanged MoM. Looking at the YoY change, we note an increase of 5.5%, which was mainly driven by an increase in cigarette prices. To be specific, Alcoholic beverages decreased by 0.1%, while Tobacco prices increased by 7.1%. Food and non-alcoholic beverages, increased 0.1% MoM, while YoY increase amounts to 2.4%.

On the flip side, 3 segments observed a decrease in prices MoM. Clothes and footwear prices lead with a decrease of 3.8%, arguably due to seasonal discounts. To be specific, prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels observed a decrease of 0.1%, while Miscellaneous goods and services witnessed a decrease of 0.2%.

Viewed by main groups by the purpose of consumption, in August 2021, the highest increase was recorded in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, by 0.9% MoM on average, in the prices of Recreation and culture by 0.8% as well as in the prices of Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, by 0.6% on average, in the prices of restaurants and hotels by 0.3% as well as in the prices of Transport, by 0.2% (in each group) on average.