Property prices advertised in euros

JD has posted the following question:

“Properties in Croatia are all advertised in euros, but the currency is the Kuna? Whats the deal here pls?”

Hi JD - it’s largely for historical reasons, a bit of a hangover from a number of years ago when Croatia was part of Communist Yugoslavia and inflation rates were running at high levels. Essentially, the local currency at that time was the Dinar, which, because of the rampant inflation levels, became relatively meaningless as a currency measure. People turned to the German Mark as a measure instead, which then gave way to the Euro.

With Croatia becoming an independent non-Communist state in the early 90’s, the Kuna was introduced as the new national currency. It’s been a stable measure since that time, but old habits die hard, and people still express large amounts of money, such as salaries, car prices and of course property prices in Euros. Whatever type of good or service is concerned however, the transaction is actually made in Kunas, which may seem strange to non-Croatians, but it doesn’t really cause any major issues.