November 15 (SeeNews) - Croatia's annual consumer prices inflation slowed down to 0.6% in October from September's 0.8%, meeting the expectations of analysts at Austria-based Erste banking group, Erste said on Friday.
The October inflation rate has landed very close to Erste's 0.7% expectations, the group said in an instant comment after Croatia's statistical office published the inflation data earlier on Friday.
Erste also said that the monthly CPI increase of 0.4% came mostly from higher clothing and footwear prices (up 7.3% month-on-month), as well as from increased transport prices.
The Erste analysts said they see average inflation of slightly below 1% in 2019, followed by a mild acceleration in 2020.
"Going forward, we see inflation remaining at similar levels – demand-side pressures should accelerate only marginally, reflecting a strong consumption profile, while supply side remains mostly sensitive to energy prices", Erste noted.
According to data of Croatia's statistical office, prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which have the largest weight of 27.81% in the consumer basket, edged up 0.1% year-on-year in October, after growing by 0.5% in September.
Prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, with a 16.44% weight, added 2.5% in October, after a 3.2% rise in September, the office said.
Prices of transport services which have a 12.43% weight decreased by 2.6% in October, following a drop of 3.1% in September.
Croatia's average annual inflation accelerated to 1.5% last year, from 1.1% in 2017.