Less than a year after Croatia joined the euro area, only 51% of Croatian citizens think that the common currency is good for their country, according to the results of a Eurobarometer survey released on Wednesday.

The survey was conducted by telephone in the 20 euro area member states between 3 and 9 October 2023, covering 18,667 persons above the age of 15.

When asked if having the euro is a good thing for their country, the lowest support came from Croatian respondents. 51% of them said it is good for their country, 36% said it is bad and 10% were undecided.

The greatest support was recorded in Finland, where 85% of respondents said that having the euro is a good thing. It was followed by Estonia and Slovakia (both 84%) and Ireland (81%).

On average, 69% of respondents in the euro area believe that having the euro is a good thing for their country.

On the other hand, 79% of those interviewed in the 20 euro area member states think that the euro is a good thing for the European Union.

The greatest support was expressed in Slovakia (90%) and Finland (88%) and the lowest in Latvia (70%) and Cyprus (72%).

In Croatia, 76% of respondents said that the euro is good for the EU.

72% of Croatian respondents believe that the switch from the national currency kuna to the euro had an impact on price hikes. 23% think that it had an impact on price increases for some products and services, and 3% think that prices remained mainly the same.

30% of respondents in the euro area said that the introduction of the euro makes them feel more European than before. The lowest number of people who feel this way was recorded in Croatia (15%) and Spain (20%) and the largest number in Ireland (55%), Malta (46%), Portugal and Slovakia (both 40%).

70% of respondents support a €723bn plan to help member states recover from the coronavirus crisis. The idea received the greatest support in Italy (83%), Spain (80%) and Greece (79%) and the lowest in Latvia (47%) and Germany (59%). In Croatia, 66% of respondents think this plan is good.