By the end of May 2022, the total deposits in Croatia amounted to HRK 371.5bn, representing a growth of 1.3% MoM, and 9.9% YoY.
The Croatian National Bank (HNB) has published a monthly report on the consolidated financial positions of the monetary financial institutions. According to the report, at the end of May 2022, the total deposits in Croatia equaled HRK 371.5bn, which is an increase of 1.3% MoM, and 9.9% YoY. This marks the 2nd month in a row that the deposits decreased, and if we were to exclude the -0.4% decline in March 2022 (as a result of the geopolitical uncertainty after the Russian invasion of Ukraine), then the deposits would have experienced 2 years of continual growth.
Furthermore, as Croatian households usually hold a higher percentage of deposits than the EU average, and as the deposits are the most liquid form of asset, this makes sense, especially if we consider the high inflation rates and uncertainty when it comes to investing.
Breaking the deposits into their components, on a YoY basis, demand deposits increased by 15.2%, amounting to HRK 157.5bn, while at the same time, saving deposits increased by 6.3% and amounted to HRK 212.1bn. Growth in both of these categories was recorded on an MoM basis as well, with demand deposits increasing by 1.9%, while saving deposits increased by 0.9%.
Taking a closer look at the saving deposits, we can see that saving deposits in HRK decreased by -12% YoY but actually increased by 1% MoM, which is different from the trend we have seen in the last couple of months, where saving deposits denominated in HRK were decreasing, mainly because of the expected switch to Euro at the beginning of 2023. This would mean that they currently hold 13.27% of the total saving deposits, which is a decrease of -2.8 p.p. YoY, but a very tiny increase of 0.006 p.p. MoM. Meanwhile, saving deposits in foreign currency continued their growth, increasing by 9.8% YoY, 0.9% MoM, and ending the month at HRK 185.7bn. This would also mean that currently, foreign currency saving deposits held an 86.73% share in the total saving deposits, which is the aforementioned increase of 2.8 p.p. YoY.
Finally, taking a look at the household deposits by themselves, they recorded growth of 8.7% YoY, 0.2% MoM, and ended May at HRK 250.7bn. This would also mean that 67.48% of all deposits held were household deposits, which is a decrease of 0.74 p.p. YoY, and 0.75 p.p. MoM.
Croatian deposits breakdown (November 2012 – May 2022, HRK bn)
