May the 13th, 2022 - Croatian inflation is continuing to force prices up for just about everything. Croatian marketplaces, where many people still love to buy fresh produce, are now raising their prices, making even basic salad more expensive.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, fruit and vegetable prices on Croatian markets across the country are skyrocketing. The fact these are astronomically high prices compared to the same period last year has been confirmed by the fact that a kilogram of chard or spinach is now costing 30 to 50 kuna, as reported by Slobodna Dalmacija.

Right behind chard come both coloured and white beans that are sold at a price of 30 to 40 kuna and the absolute record holders for this are the markets in Split, Dubrovnik and Rijeka. Parsley is a bit cheaper down in Dubrovnik where it sells for 30 kuna, in Split it stands at 40 kuna and in Rijeka, on some markets it's costing as much as 50 kuna.

Among the most expensive foods is garlic, which sells for as much as 60 kuna per kilogram at the moment. Those with more luck can find it for a few kuna cheaper, but never under 50.

Even something as basic as lettuce seems to have become a luxury of sorts thanks to soaring Croatian inflation. It is being sold at the price of 25 kuna down in Dubrovnik, Split and up in Pula, while you'll pay 15 kuna in Osijek. Carrots are slightly cheaper, ranging from 10 kuna (Pula and Karlovac) to 25 kuna (Dubrovnik). Beans are 50 kuna when sold at markets. Potatoes are 8 kuna in Dubrovnik, 10 in Split, 12 in Osijek. Peas in Pula are around 35 kuna.

Green cabbage and kale range from 15 to 20 kuna, red onion in Split is 25 kuna, 20 kuna down in Dubrovnik, and the cheapest can be found in Karlovac and Koprivnica, where 10 kuna should be set aside for one kilogram. Young onions are more expensive and range from 25 to 35 kuna, which is very high for the average Croatian earner.

Fruit prices have also risen compared to last month thanks to ongoing Croatian inflation. Apples are the most expensive in Dubrovnik, Pula, Split (12 kuna) while the cheapest in Koprivnica and Sisak cost a mere 5 kuna. Oranges range from 10 to 15 kuna, lemons range from 15 kuna (Osijek) to 20 kuna (Dubrovnik). The Dubrovnik market is a record holder when it comes to the price of strawberries, where you'll need to set aside 50 kuna per kilogram, followed by Split where they cost 40 kuna and Osijek where they cost 30 kuna.

Due to the rise in prices of energy and raw materials, fertilizers, seeds and protective equipment, the rise in prices of fruits and vegetables is a logical sequence of the crisis in the market of agricultural products. Strawberries, garlic, chard, lettuce have thus become a luxury for many Croatian wage earners who, even before the price increases caused by inflation, could barely make ends meet. As a result most people now bypass the markets and buy their products in shopping centres where the shares on certain agricultural products are either lower quality imports or vegetables which are being sold just before their expiration date.

All this points to tectonic disturbances in the agricultural market caused, among other things, by the war in Ukraine, which can be overcome only by joint actions of producers and the state, especially in terms of a fairer distribution of incentives from EU funds with which Croatian farmers are dissatisfied.

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As Novac writes on the 6th of August, 2019, yet another tourist season is in full swing, and while some of Croatia's private renters are struggling with filling their empty beds, certain tourists continue to resent the high prices of some rather basic services.

Consequently, Glas Slavonije researched and compared the prices of fruits and vegetables available on five markets along the Adriatic coast with the prices pointed out by producers and sellers at the main market in Osijek, far from the sea in Eastern Croatia. The differences are enormous, with prices for the same product in certain places up to 100 percent more expensive.

On Istrian markets, the prices of a dozen ingredients on the markets of Pula and Poreč were compared with those in Osijek. In Pula, you'll need to allocate 12 kuna for a kilogram of nectarines, and you will pay the half the price, 6 kuna, for the exact same amount in Osijek. For tomatoes, the difference is even greater, in Pula, one kilogram costs 22 kuna, while in Osijek, the same amount costs 10 kuna and similar to the cost of pears, which in this coastal town cost 20 kuna, compared to 8 kuna in Slavonia.

You won't manage to save anything on the markets of Poreč, either, where a pound of carrots costs 15 kuna, and in Osijek you will pay between 8 and 10 kuna for the same amount, it's the same situation with peppers, for which it is necessary to allocate 20 kuna in Poreč and 12 kuna in Osijek.

You can find your favorite summer fruit, watermelon, on Poreč market for six to eight kuna per kilo, while in Osijek, you'll spend half as much or find it for even less, since you will only need to spend about 3 kuna for the same amount.

Interestingly, the price of zucchini is the same in both of these cities in Croatia and amounts to 10 kuna, but the price of young potatoes is twice as expensive in Poreč and costs between 8 and 10 kuna per kilo, while in Osijek it costs 4 or 5 kuna, depending of course on the producer. There is a drastic difference in the price of plums, which are offered on Poreč market for 16 kuna per kilogram, while in Osijek, you can easily find the exact same amount for 3 or at most 5 kuna.

In Dubrovnik, one producer complained that they were the most expensive "market" in the whole of Croatia. It is difficult not to become irritated by the general cost of basic things in the city under the famous Mt. Srđ, where you will need to fork out as much a 25 kuna per kilo for pears, 40 kuna for grapes (both white and black), onions, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, and even plums cost 20 kuna, and for garlic and legumes, you'll likely spend about 40 kuna per kilo. A truly incomprehensible price difference.

You can find a slightly more acceptable set of prices on Split's market, where a kilogram of tomatoes or peppers costs up to 15 kuna per kilogram, the price of carrots is equal to that of those sold on Osijek's market, ie, from 8 kuna to 10 kuna, and when it comes to nectarines, the price ranges from 8 to as much as 16 kuna per kilogram.

You'll pay almost double for pears and nectarines in Zadar than you will on Osijek's market, where both fruits cost 15 kuna per kilo, it's the same situation with plums at a price of 10 kuna, while the ''twice the price'' trend is rounded off with watermelons with a price of 6 kuna, versus Osijek's 3 kuna per kilogram.

However, you will be better off in Zadar if you're buying zucchini and tomatoes, which you can find for 5 or 6 kuna per kilo. The coastal price is also similar for pears, which in most coastal cities cost 15 kuna a kilo, and another summer favourite, apricots, are also twice as expensive in Zadar than they are in Osijek - costing 20 kuna per kilo. There is a big difference in Zadar's offer of corn, which costs 4 kuna a piece, and the one on the Osijek market, costing only 2 kuna.

Since January the 1st, 2019, VAT on fruit, vegetables, meat and fish in Croatia has been reduced, but data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in the months that followed showed that this did not generally affect the prices of these products for the end buyer, and some prices even went up. 

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