Croatia's annual inflation seen at 12.7% in Jan – first estimate

ZAGREB (Croatia), February 1 (SeeNews) - Croatia's consumer prices increased by 12.7% year-on-year in January, and were flat month-on-month, according to first estimate, the statistical office said on Wednesday.

On an annual level, the prices of food, beverages and tobacco rose 15.4% on the year in January, energy prices surged 13.8%, prices of industrial non-food products excluding energy went up 12.1% and prices of services increased 9.3%, the Bureau of Statistics said.

It will release the final data on consumer price index (CPI) for January on February 23. So far it has not been publishing first estimates of CPI.

Croatia, which joined the euro area on January 1, 2023 saw annual inflation easing to 13.1% in December, from 13.5% in November, the statistical office said last month. On a monthly comparison basis, CPI dipped by 0.3% in December, following an increase of 0.9% in November.

According to central bank governor Boris Vujcic, Croatia's annual inflation rate has likely reached a peak in December and would fall further as food and energy prices have started to decrease.