According to the first estimate of the consumer price index released on Wednesday 4 January by the State Bureau of Statistics (DZS), inflation in Croatia reached 3.4% year on year in January 2026, while a first estimate published the same day by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), showed that inflation measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) stood at 3.6%, placing Croatia among the countries with the highest inflation in the eurozone, behind only Slovakia. Commenting on the latest data, newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Tomislav Coric said to reporters on 4 January that the January inflation rate does not significantly deviate from overall projections for 2026 and added that the issue of inflation in the Croatian public is being “very much oversimplified.”“In 2026/2027, its [inflation’s] convergence toward desired rates of close to two percentage points is expected. This year, inflation in the food price segment is somewhat lower than the overall index. That is what encourages us,” said Coric, adding that on the other hand, the main concern is significantly higher inflation in the services sector compared with the rest of overall inflation in Croatia, which will need to be addressed.Coric also said that part of services inflation stems from higher local level fees outside Government control but expressed hope for stronger coordination and intensified efforts to curb services inflation in the coming months.Meanwhile, according to the DZS first estimate, inflation in Croatia reached 3.4% in January 2026 compared with January 2025, while compared with December 2025 it increased by 0.3%.After the December level of 3.3% and a more pronounced slowdown in inflation growth compared with 3.8% in November 2025, in January this year there was thus a renewed slight acceleration of inflation growth on a year-on-year basis.According to the main components of the index, the estimated annual inflation rate for services amounts to 7.2%, for energy 3.7%, for the group that includes food, beverages and tobacco 3%, and for industrial nonfood products excluding energy 0.1%.On a monthly basis, compared with December 2025, service prices increased by 2.2%, energy by 1.8%, and food, beverages and tobacco by 1%, while prices of industrial nonfood products excluding energy fell by 3.4%.According to the first estimate published on 4 January by Eurostat, the annual inflation rate in January measured by the HICP in Croatia amounted to 3.6%, and only Slovakia had a higher rate, at 4.2%. Across the eurozone, average annual inflation stood at 1.7% in January 2026, while newly admitted member Bulgaria recorded year on year inflation of 2.3%. (ICE ZAGABRIA)

Fonte notizia: HRT online edition 04/02/2026