Food bills remain too high for Croatians despite near-zero inflation

Croatian food prices remain high, even though the summer brought almost no additional inflation. The national statistics index put annual food inflation at just 0.1% in August, while the harmonized measure, which includes goods aimed at tourists, was slightly higher at 0.3%.

That harmonized figure marked the lowest level since April 2019. Official data showed a mixed movement underneath the overall result. Prices rose for soft drinks, baby food, vegetables, meat and pasta, while yogurt, oils, other dairy products and fruit became cheaper.

An alternative price tracker reached a similar conclusion. Mojecijene.hr, owned by mathematician Nenad Bakić, compared eight million supermarket prices recorded on Sept. 1 with prices from the same day a year earlier. It concluded that food inflation was zero.

The two measurements differ slightly, but they point to the same development: food-price inflation has stabilized. The result does not mean groceries are cheap. Rather, the summer stopped the further price increases that had continued to weigh on Croatian shoppers.