Methodology - price indices

Published: 19/1/2016 Modified: 8/4/2024

Table J1 Consumer price and industrial producer price indices

Consumer price index (CPI) is used as a general measure of inflation in the Republic of Croatia and reflects the changes in prices of goods and services acquired, used or paid over time by a reference population (private households) for consumption purposes. In addition, it is used to guarantee the value of contracts with index clauses (e.g. for indexing wages and salaries in collective agreements, for indexing pensions, etc.), as well as for the comparison of the price movements within a particular country between different economy sectors, it can serve as a basis for deflating individual categories of national accounts data and other statistical series, as well as for for analytical purposes.

Industrial producer price index measures the changes of producer prices of manufactured goods produced in the Republic of Croatia and sold by producers on the domestic (Croatian) and/or the non-domestic (non-Croatian) market. Industrial producer price index on the domestic market measures the changes of producer prices of manufactured goods that are produced and sold by producers on the domestic (Croatian) market.

Table J1a Harmonised indices of consumer prices

Harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) is a set of consumer price indices calculated according to a harmonised approach and a special set of definitions, which enable a comparable measure of inflation in the euro area, the European Union, the European Economic Area and in candidate countries.

CPI and HICP are calculated on the basis of the same representative basket of goods and services. The main difference is the coverage of the population (HICP includes the total consumption of institutional households and non-residents in the economic territory and this consumption is not included in the national consumer price index). While the consumer price index is most often applied as a general measure of inflation within the national framework, the harmonised index of consumer prices is a comparable measure of inflation among the countries of the European Union.

HICP-CT is the harmonised index of consumer prices where the rates of taxes 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 would indicate the effect of the tax rate change on price changes assuming tax changes are passed on instantaneously and fully.

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

The house price index measures the change in the transactions of dwellings made by households independently of their previous owners and independently of their final use. Transaction prices include the value of land.

The house price index covers all available data on dwelling transactions (houses and flats/apartments) on the territory of the Republic of Croatia, expressed in euro, that are delivered by the Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance according to predefined deadlines.

The main data source for calculating the weights is the value of dwelling transactions from the previous year. The weights were recalculated on the basis of changes in the prices of dwellings in the last quarter of the previous year.