Zagreb
Relatively strong employment growth is expected in the domestic labour market (around 1.8% in 2024), with a further rise in nominal wages, though at a slower pace, followed by a gradual recovery in real wages. The ILO unemployment rate might be 6% in 2024. With the unwinding of past shocks, inflation is expected to continue decelerating in the coming months amid subdued current inflationary pressures. Estimates show that the average annual consumer price inflation rate in Croatia could be more than halved, from 8.4% in 2023 to 3.5% in 2024, driven by the expected decline in all the main inflation components, in particular core inflation. The backdrop of lower energy and food commodity prices paired with normalised supply chains might contribute to a marked 7.25-7.75% slowdown in the inflation of food and industrial products.
