Price indices

Published: 20/9/2017

The tables show relevant statistical data on prices of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and Eurostat.

Methodology - price indices

Published: 19/1/2016 Modified: 24/2/2023

Table J1 Consumer price and industrial producer price indices

The consumer price index (CPI) reflects the changes in prices of goods and services acquired, used or paid over time by a reference population (private households) for consumption purposes. It is compiled in accordance with the methodological principles laid down by the ILO and Eurostat. In the Republic of Croatia, the institution in charge of calculating and publishing the consumer price index is the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The CPI series comprises monthly indicators for the period from January 1998 (since the COICOP classification has been in use) onwards. The main characteristics of the consumer price index are described in Box 1 in the CNB Bulletin No. 91, 2004. The average CPI year-on-year inflation rate is listed in the Economic Indicators table in the CNB Bulletin and on the CNB's website under Statistics/Main macroeconomic indicators. As the measure of inflation in the period prior to 1998, the CBS calculated and published the retail price index and the cost of living index; however, the methodology of their calculation was not adequately harmonised with internationally accepted standards (the archive table with retail price index and cost of living index indicators in the period from January 1992 to December 1997 is available on the website of the Croatian National Bank under Statistics/Statistical data/Archive/Old national methodology). Furthermore, the CBS compiles and publishes the index of industrial producer prices on the domestic market, which measures monthly changes in the level of producer prices of manufactured goods produced and sold on the domestic (Croatian) market for NCA 2007 sections B, C, D and E (only division 36).

Table J1a Harmonised indices of consumer prices

Harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) are economic indicators which measure the change in the level of goods and services acquired, used or paid over time by households, calculated in accordance with a harmonised approach and a special set of definitions. This enables the calculation of a consistent measure of inflation for the European Union, Euroarea and the European Economic Area as well as comparability among member states. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics has been calculating HICP since January 2007 and delivering it to Eurostat as the main disseminator of HICP statistics on EU level. HICP series cover the period from January 1998 (since the COICOP classification has been in use) onwards. Since changes of tax rates on products affect inflation as measured by HICP, additional information is gathered on the effect of tax changes on inflation based on which this effect is isolated, resulting in the harmonised index of consumer prices at constant tax rates (HICP-CT). HICP-CT is a harmonised index of consumer prices where tax rates on products are kept constant in the observation period compared to the reference period, i.e. through time. In the event of a tax rate change, the difference between the current HICP-CT and HICP values would indicate the effect of the tax rate change on price changes, assuming that changes in tax rates were applied instantaneously and fully. Series of monthly and annual HICP and HICP-CT indices for the Republic of Croatia and other EU member states and the related methodology are available on the Eurostat website. Pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/2010, as of February 2016, the HICP and HICP-CT indices have been compiled and published relative to the reference period of 2015 (2015=100).

Table J2 Core consumer price indices 

The index of consumer prices excluding energy is calculated by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics in such a manner that energy prices, whose share in the consumer price index basket in 2023 is 16,19%, are excluded from the overall consumer price index basket. The index of consumer prices excluding energy, food, beverages and tobacco, is calculated by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics in such a manner that the prices of energy, food, beverages and tobacco, whose share in the consumer price index basket in 2023 is 47,74%, are excluded from the overall consumer price index basket. The exclusion is carried out by assigning zero weights to these prices. 

The harmonised index of consumer prices excluding energy is calculated by Eurostat in such a manner that energy prices, whose share in the harmonised consumer price index basket in 2023 is 12.87%, are excluded from the overall harmonised consumer price index basket. The harmonised index of consumer prices excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, is calculated by Eurostat in such a manner that the prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, whose share in the consumer price index basket in 2023 is 41.98%, are excluded from the overall consumer price index basket. The exclusion is carried out by assigning zero weights to these prices.

Table J3 House price indices

Developed in cooperation by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and the Croatian National Bank (CNB), the house price index (HPI) replaced the hedonic real estate price index (HREPI), which the Croatian National Bank had been compiling on its own until the second quarter of 2015 (Table J3a). The house price index measures trends in the market prices of residential properties purchased by households, irrespective of the property’s previous owner or intended use. The market price includes the value of the land. The index comprises all data on transactions in real property (houses and apartments) in the Republic of Croatia, collected from real property transfer tax returns filed with the Ministry of Finance (Tax Administration) according to preset deadlines. The house price index is compiled pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No 93/2013 of 1 February 2013 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 concerning harmonised indices of consumer prices, as regards owner-occupied housing price indices, for the categories of new and existing dwellings and for the category “total” at the level of the Republic of Croatia. To meet user needs, the CBS additionally defined three geographical areas – the City of Zagreb, the Adriatic Coast and the rest of Croatia (“Other”). The house price index is calculated in accordance with the methodological guidelines contained in Eurostat’s “Handbook on Residential Property Prices Indices”. The main source of data for the compilation of weights is the value of transactions in residential properties purchased in the previous year. The weights are recalculated according to trends in residential property prices in the last quarter of the previous year. The index is calculated on the basis of predefined hedonic regression models, whose variables are defined based on available data on residential property features. For the period until the end of 2011, indices are calculated using the time dummy variable method, and for the period from the first quarter of 2012 onwards, due to the availability of a wider range of data on residential property features, using the rolling window time dummy variable method. The indices are then aggregated according to the Laspeyres formula to higher levels and to the total level.