The biggest contribution to the CPI increase on the annual level was by Food and non-alcoholic beverages, at 19.2%, followed by Restaurants and hotels, at 17%, Furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, at 16.6%, and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, at 16.5%.
On Friday, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) published the latest report on the developments recorded by the Croatian Consumer price indices (CPI), for November 2022. At the annual level, the CPI in Croatia increased by 13.5%, on a monthly level, it increased by 0.9%, and finally, as an annual average, it grew by 10.1%. This would mean that inflation is still not slowing down, putting continued pressure on households and companies alike.
CPI (January 2013 – November 2022, %)
Source: DZS, InterCapital Research
Breaking this growth on the annual level, the biggest contribution came from the following categories: Food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increased by 19.2%, Restaurants and hotels, which increased by 17%, Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, with the growth of 16.6%, Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, with 16.5%, Transport, with 13.3%, Miscellaneous goods and services, with 11.6%, Recreation and culture, with 9.1%, Clothing and footwear, with 5.8%, Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, with 4.6%, and finally, Health, at 4.1%.
This data would mean that inflation has truly taken hold of most of the economy; what started with higher food & beverages, and later on higher energy costs, has now spilled over to the majority of the segments of the economy, which would imply that the pressure from inflation is still quite strong. Furthermore, as the CPI is a composite of different categories with different weights in the index itself, these categories have varying impacts on the changes it records. In November 2022, Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 4.98 p.p. to the overall CPI, followed by Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 2.78 p.p., Transport, at 1.96 p.p., Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, at 0.95 p.p., Restaurants and hotels, at 0.85 p.p. This would mean that the food&beverages contributed 37% of the overall inflation growth, and if combined with the next 2 categories, this would amount to 72%.
CPI change by categories (October 2022, YoY, %)
Source: DZS, InterCapital Research
Looking at the monthly level, the highest increase was recorded by transport, at 1.8%, Miscellaneous goods and services, at 1.5%, Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, at 1.3%, Food and non-alcoholic beverages, at 1.1%, Recreation and culture, of 1%, Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, of 0.7%, and finally, Clothing and footwear, of 0.5%. On the other hand, prices in Restaurants and hotels decreased by 0.5%.
