As of the end of December 2021, the total deposits in Croatia amounted to HRK 365.8bn, representing an 11.1% growth in 2021.
Croatian National Bank [HNB] has published the consolidated statement of financial position for the monetary financial institutions for December 2021, in effect, giving us an overview for the entire year. As of the end of December, the total deposits in Croatia amounted to HRK 365.8bn, which is an increase of 11.1% over the course of the year, and 0.5% MoM. This means that as of the end of 2021, the Croatian deposits are again at an all-time high, continuing the positive trend they have experienced.
Looking over to the components of this growth, the largest contributor was the demand deposits, which grew by 21.1% in 2021, reaching HRK 152.9bn, and accounting for 41.8% of total deposits. At the same time, saving deposits grew by 4.8% in 2021, amounting to HRK 212.9bn, whilst having a slight decrease of -0.3% MoM. Looking at the saving deposits by type (in HRK and foreign currency), the deposits in HRK decreased by -1.8% YoY, -0.2% MoM, reaching HRK 30.7bn.
Meanwhile, foreign currency deposits grew by 6% YoY and decreased by -0.3% MoM, reaching HRK 182.2bn in 2021. This means that domestic currency saving deposits account for 14.4% of all saving deposits, whilst foreign currency accounts for the remaining 85.6%. Foreign currency deposits were always popular in Croatia due to their recent history of high inflation and change in currencies after Croatia became independent in 1991. Share of FX deposits has been increasing as Croatia is approaching introduction of Euro that is expected from 1 Jan 2023, at the fixed rate of EURHRK 7.53450. In the last two years share of FX deposits in total deposits has increased by 2 p.p. As a comparison, at the end of 1995, share of FX deposits accounted for 87% of total deposits, which were more than 10x smaller and stood at HRK 16.3bn.
When looking at the household deposits by themselves, we can see that they grew by 9.6% in 2021, amounting to HRK 246.1bn in December. This would also mean that 67.27% of all deposits held were household deposits, which is an increase of 28 bps MoM, and a decrease of 90 bps YoY.
Deposits breakdown (HRK bn)
