In May of this year, Croatia recorded an acceleration in inflation, as confirmed by the latest data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

According to their first estimate, the annual inflation rate, measured by the consumer price index, amounted to 3.5 percent, representing an increase compared with April, when inflation was 3.2 percent. This interrupted the multi-month trend of slowing inflation that had been present since the beginning of the year. In January, as a reminder, inflation stood at four percent, in February 3.7 percent, while in March and April it was at the level of 3.2 percent.

On a monthly basis, prices in May rose on average by 0.4 percent compared with April. The largest contribution to rising inflation continues to come from the services sector and from food, beverages, and tobacco. According to the index components, the estimated year-on-year inflation rate for services amounts to 6.2 percent, while the prices of food, beverages, and tobacco rose by 5.1 percent. Energy recorded an increase of 1.7 percent, and industrial non-food products excluding energy just 0.1 percent.

Looking at changes on a monthly basis, service prices rose by 0.6 percent, while the prices of food, beverages, and tobacco recorded an increase of 1.2 percent. On the other hand, energy prices fell by 1.1 percent, while industrial non-food products excluding energy remained at the same level as in the previous month.

A comparison with other eurozone members shows that Croatia still ranks among the countries with the highest inflation. According to the harmonised index of consumer prices, which allows comparison among European Union member states, annual inflation in May amounted to 4.3 percent, while on a monthly basis an increase of 0.6 percent was recorded. Only Estonia had a higher inflation rate than Croatia, at 4.6 percent, while Slovakia recorded the same level of inflation as Croatia. Other eurozone members had lower inflation rates.

At the level of the entire eurozone, the annual inflation rate in May amounted to 2.5 percent, which is significantly lower compared with the Croatian data. These results indicate the continuation of the challenges Croatia faces regarding price growth, especially in the segments of services and food products, and they are confirmed by data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and Eurostat (Source: Poslovni dnevnik, 4 June 2025).