HICP in Croatia

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) measures the change in the prices of a representative basket of goods and services bought by Croatian households, under a methodology common to the whole EU. It is produced by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS).

It is calculated from a regular price survey across a broad sample of outlets and areas, weighting each product by its share of consumption spending. Following Eurostat rules, it is directly comparable with the rest of the EU; monthly and year-on-year changes are published.

Since Croatia adopted the euro in 2023, its HICP feeds directly into the euro-area inflation figure the ECB watches when setting interest rates. A hotter-than-expected print strengthens expectations of tighter monetary policy and erodes purchasing power.

It only measures the prices of the defined basket, so it does not capture every good and service in the economy. To gauge the underlying trend, analysts look at core HICP, which strips out energy and unprocessed food, the most volatile components.