ZAGREB, 17 Sept 2021 - Consumer prices in Croatia rose by 3.1% in August 2021 compared with the same month in 2020, which is the highest inflation rate since April 2013, when it was 3.3%, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Friday.
The first stronger rise in inflation was recorded in April this year, of 2.1%. It slowed down to 2.0% in June, before picking up to 2.8% in July and 3.1% in August.
The rise is the result of the spillover of prices from global commodities markets, growing domestic and foreign demand, and a price convergence towards the EU average, notably with regard to services, analysts at Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) said in their comment on the DZS report.
The rise in consumer prices accompanied the rise in industrial producer prices, which grew by 9.3% in August 2021 compared with August 2020, their highest jump since January 2011. This year industrial producer prices increased by 3.5% in March, 5.8% in April, 7.6% in May, 7.2% in June and 7.9% in July.
Transport prices increased the most, by 9.9% compared with August 2020.
Compared with July 2021, consumer prices went up by 0.2% on average.
In the first eight months of 2021, compared with the same period of 2020, consumer prices rose by 1.7%. The greatest contribution to the rise came from energy prices, which increased by 5.2% on average. At the same time, consumer prices excluding energy rose by 1.0%.
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