The rise in wages and overall living standards has contributed to more consumer spending during the festive season.
Yet another festive season is behind us and even though we all feel considerably heavier after the time of year that seems to force large quantities of food down our throats, our wallets are somewhat lighter.
As Jutarnji writes on the 2nd of January, 2018, consumer spending reached a massive 13.5 billion kuna in December last year, one billion kuna more than was expected, and according to date collected from a survey carried out by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), most citizens spent between 100 and 500 kuna on Christmas gifts.
At the end of November, however, the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK) announced their estimate that Croatian citizens would spend 12.5 billion kuna in December, which would be 500 million kuna, or about 4.2 percent more than was spent back in December 2016.
The survey, published on Monday, also showed that the largest number of respondents, 39 percent of them, spent between 100 and 500 kuna on Christmas presents.
About 31 percent of the respondents spent between 500 and 1,000 kuna, more than 1,000 kuna was spent by 9 percent, and 21 percent spent less than 100 kuna or nothing at all.
Almost 40 percent of the gifts left under the tree were toys, 37 percent were makeup and other cosmetics, 36 percent were shoes and clothing, and food products amounted to 25 percent.
“Increased Christmas spending is a consequence of a rise in the living standard, which is evident both in terms of wage growth of 4 to 5 percent, employment growth of about 2 percent, increase of retail trade turnover by approximately 4 to 5 percent and ultimately the growth of GDP,” stated Zvonimir Savić from HGK.
