ZAGREB, 15 July 2022 - Consumer prices in Croatia rose by 12.1% in June 2022 compared with the same month in 2021, the highest inflation rate since the national statistical office (DZS) monitors these data, mostly as a result of increased energy and food prices.
The prices of consumer goods and services, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, increased by 1.1% from May 2022 and by 12.1% from June 2021, the DZS reported on Friday. In May, consumer prices rose by 10.8% year on year.
The annual inflation rate continued to accelerate in June, reaching a historic high of 12.1%, after entering double-digit territory in May. The average increase in consumer prices in the first half of the year was 8.6%, analysts at Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) said in their comment on the DZS report.
The highest increases were observed in prices of transport (20.3%) and food and soft drinks (16.9%), followed by restaurants and hotels (14.6%), household furnishings and maintenance (13.0%), clothing and footwear (11.1%), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (9.6%) and recreation and culture (8.0%).
The core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy, reached 7.1% in June.
RBA expects that elevated rates of inflation will continue in the third quarter before calming down towards the end of the year. It predicts that this year Croatia will record the highest inflation rate in its recent history.
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