Unpublished boycott of stores to denounce inflation in Croatia, their turnover drops by 50 %

Prices too expensive … and fleeing customers, for a day. The turnover of Croatian merchants dropped by 50 % on Friday, according to the tax authorities, a consequence of a boycott call launched by consumer associations to protest against the rise in prices.

“The merchants did not imagine such a revolt,” said the media Josip Kelemen, of the consumer association Halo Inspektore, on the initiative of the boycott. The opposition, the unions, some ministers and several personalities had also called to support the movement.

At 4 p.m. (5 p.m. in Paris), the country’s merchants had received 50 % less turnover than at the same time last Friday.

“It is an important, symbolic message”

In Zagreb, only a handful of customers were shopping in the main supermarket in the capital, usually crowded at this time. “Traders will not suffer financially, but it is an important, symbolic message. The abnormal price increase must stop, “said Danko Horvat, a bartender in Zagreb who decided to go on shopping.

The organizers accuse traders of being the main responsible for inflation, which reached 4.5 % in December against 2.4 % on average in the euro zone.

But several economists warn that the impact of this initiative will be low, and claim that the price increase is not the main factor of inflation.

Croatia, which joined the euro zone in 2023, must manage a plethoric public sector, one of the highest VAT in the European Union (25 %), an aging and a decrease in its population, spent from 4, 5 to 3.8 million in 25 years, they explain. The average salary in November was 1,366 euros there.