Croatian citizens mainly support the new regulation on Sunday trading while the majority will not change their consumer habits, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development said on Wednesday commenting on the results of a survey.

The survey, commissioned by the ministry, was conducted by the Ipsos market research agency on a representative sample of 1,000 respondents with the aim of determining the attitude of citizens regarding Sunday trading so that the new regulation can be prepared as best as possible.

It found that 72% of respondents mostly or completely support the new regulation on Sunday trading.

The majority of respondents, 64%, would resent having to work on Sundays even if they were to be adequately paid, while 35% said they would agree to work Sundays if there was no other choice.

A similar share of the population (65%) think that the hourly wage should be 100% higher for working on Sundays, while 25% believe the hourly wage should be 50% higher.

Sunday is still considered to be a day of rest from any physical work, and a day for recreation and spending time with family and the like, and for the majority of citizens that day is not intended for shopping. Apart from buying in bakeries or small local stores, only 14% of citizens occasionally go shopping in malls on Sunday while 57% never go to shopping malls on a Sunday.

As many as 82% underscored that they will keep the same shopping habits and will not change them essentially and that they will continue to shop as they have until now, but on other days in the week.

The survey has helped the ministry to understand citizens’ needs regarding Sunday shopping and has shown that the proposed legislation reflects their views and wishes, the ministry concluded.