ferrous metallurgy and aluminum products, lead and zinc smelting; electronics (including military electronics), trucks, automobiles, electric power equipment, wood products, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machine tools [15]
The economy of Slovenia is a developedmixed economy.[22][23]The country enjoys a high level of prosperity and stability as well as above-average GDP per capita by purchasing power parity at 91% of the EU average in 2023.[24] The nominal GDP in 2023 is 68.108 billion USD, nominal GDP per capita (GDP/pc) in 2023 is USD 32,350.[4] The highest GDP/pc is in central Slovenia, where the capital city Ljubljana is located. It is part of the Western Slovenia statistical region, which has a higher GDP/pc than eastern Slovenia.[25]
Slovenia has a highly educated workforce, well-developed infrastructure, and is situated at a major transport crossroads.[26] The level of foreign direct investment is one of the lowest but has been steadily rising in the last few years. The Slovenian economy has been affected by the European economic crisis, which occurred in the late 2000s.[26] After 2013, GDP per capita began rising again.[27] Almost two-thirds of the working population is employed in services.[6]
History
Although it comprised only about one-eleventh of Yugoslavia's total population, it was the most productive of the Yugoslav republics, accounting for one-fifth of its GDP and one-third of its exports.[28]
Slovenia thus gained independence in 1991 with an already relatively prosperous economy and strong market ties to the West.
During the Great Recession, the Slovenian economy suffered a severe setback. In 2009 the Slovenian GDP per capita shrank by 7.9%. After a slow recovery from the 2009 recession, thanks to exports,[29] the economy of Slovenia again slid into recession in the last quarter of 2011.[30] This has been attributed to the fall in domestic consumption and the slowdown in the growth of exports.[30] Slovenia mainly exports to countries of the eurozone.[26] The reasons for the decrease in domestic consumption have been multiple: fiscal austerity, the freeze in budget expenditure in the final months of 2011,[31] a failure in the efforts to implement economic reforms, inappropriate financing, and the decrease in exports.[32] In addition, the construction industry was severely hit in 2010 and 2011.[30] From 2014 onwards GDP of Slovenia is rising again.[33] The main factors of GDP growth are export and in the year 2016 also domestic consumption, which started to revive after the economic crisis. The GDP growth in 2015 was 2.3%;[20] in the first half of 2016 it was 2.5%, and in the 2nd quarter of 2016 it was 2.7%.[34] This means that GDP growth accelerated in 2016.
During the EU accession negotiations, Slovenia insisted on numerous derogations, refusing to open up certain key sectors of the economy to full competition. The country is the only one in Central and Eastern Europe to have retained control of its banking sector. The country has also preserved an important public service built during the socialist period: Slovenia still has one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and education is free up to the postgraduate level.[35]
Trade
Slovenia's trade is orientated towards other EU countries, mainly Germany and Italy. This is the result of a wholesale reorientation of trade toward the West and the growing markets of central and eastern Europe in the face of the collapse of its Yugoslav markets. Slovenia's economy is highly dependent on foreign trade. Trade equals about 120% of GDP (exports and imports combined).[clarification needed] About two-thirds of Slovenia's trade is with other EU members.
This high level of openness makes it extremely sensitive to economic conditions in its main trading partners and changes in its international price competitiveness. However, despite the economic slowdown in Europe in 2001–03, Slovenia maintained a 3% GDP growth. Keeping labour costs in line with productivity is thus a key challenge for Slovenia's economic well-being, and Slovenian firms have responded by specializing in mid- to high-tech manufacturing. Industry and construction comprise about one-quarter of the GDP. As in most industrial economies, services make up an increasing share of output (57.1 percent), notably in financial services.
Agriculture
Slovenia produced in 2018:
350,000 metric tons (390,000 short tons) of maize;
126,000 metric tons (139,000 short tons) of grapes;
121,000 metric tons (133,000 short tons) of wheat;
The historical primary industries of agriculture, forestry, and fishing contribute a comparatively low 2.5 percent of GDP, and engage only 6 percent of the population. The average farm is only 5.5 hectares. Part of Slovenia lies in the Alpe-Adriabioregion, which is currently involved in a major initiative in organic farming. Between 1998 and 2003, the organic sector grew from less than 0.1% of Slovenian agriculture to roughly the European Union average of 3.3%.[38]
Public finances have shown a deficit in recent years. This averaged around $650 million per annum between 1999 and 2007; however, this amounted to less than 23 percent of GDP.[39] There was a slight surplus in 2008 with revenues totalling $23.16 billion and expenditures $22.93 billion.[40]Government expenditure equalled 38 percent of GDP.[citation needed] As of January 2011[update], the total national debt of Slovenia was unknown. The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) reported it to be (not counting state-guaranteed loans) 19.5 billion euros or 54.2% of GDP at the end of September 2010. According to the data provided by the Slovenian Ministry of Finance in January 2011, it was just below 15 billion euros or 41.6% of the 2009 GDP. However, the Slovenian financial newspaper Finance calculated in January 2011 that it was actually 22.4 billion euros or almost 63% of GDP, surpassing the limit of 60% allowed by the European Union.[41][42] On 12 January 2011, the Slovenian Court of Audit rejected the data reported by the ministry as incorrect and demanded the dismissal of the finance minister Franc Križanič.[43]
Slovenia's traditional anti-inflation policy relied heavily on capital inflow restrictions. Its privatization process favoured insider purchasers and prescribed a long lag time on share trading, complicated by a cultural wariness of being "bought up" by foreigners. As such, Slovenia has had a number of impediments to foreign participation in its economy. Slovenia has garnered some notable foreign investments, including the investment of $125 million by Goodyear in 1997. At the end of 2008, there was around $11.5 billion of foreign capital in Slovenia. Slovenians had invested $7.5 billion abroad. As of 31 December 2007, the value of shares listed on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange was $29 billion.
Investments from neighboring Croatia have begun in Slovenia. On 1 July 2010, Droga Kolinska was purchased by the Atlantic Group of Croatia for 382 million euros. Mercator was sold to Croatia's Agrocor in June 2014.[44]
At the end of the year 2014, there were 10 billion[clarification needed]foreign direct investment in Slovenia, 13.9% more than at the end of the year 2013. In 2013 (latest published data) direct foreign investments accounted for 24.7% of the GDP of Slovenia. The most important investor countries are Austria (33.6%), Switzerland (11.3%), Germany (10.4%), Italy (7.9%), and Croatia (7.7%).[45]
The following table shows the main economic indicators from 1993–2019.[46]
Year
GDP
(in bil. US$ PPP)
GDP
(in bil. EUR PPP)
GDP per capita
(in EUR PPP)
GDP
(in bil. US$ nominal)
GDP growth (real)
Inflation (in Percent)
Unemployment rate
Government debt (in % of GDP)
1993
23.5
7.8
3,908
16.6
2.8 %
31.9 %
8.6 %
...
1995
26.9
10.6
8,311
21.4
4.1 %
13.7 %
7.0 %
18.2 %
2000
35.8
18.9
11,076
20.4
3.7 %
8.9 %
6.7 %
25.9 %
2005
47.8
29.1
14,551
36.3
3.8 %
2.5 %
6.5 %
26.4 %
2006
52.2
31.5
15,676
39.5
5.7 %
2.5 %
6.0 %
26.1 %
2007
57.3
35.1
17,373
48.1
7.0 %
3.7 %
4.9 %
22.8 %
2008
60.5
37.9
18,757
55.8
3.5 %
5.7 %
4.4 %
21.8 %
2009
56.2
36.3
17,758
50.5
−7.5 %
0.8 %
5.1 %
34.5 %
2010
57.7
36.4
17,749
48.2
1.3 %
1.8 %
5.4 %
38.3 %
2011
59.4
37.1
18,052
51.6
0.9 %
1.8 %
7.1 %
46.5 %
2012
59.7
36.3
17,626
46.6
−2.6 %
2.6 %
8.5 %
53.6 %
2013
61.7
36.5
17,700
48.4
−1.0 %
1.8 %
11.1 %
70 %
2014
63.7
37.6
18,253
50.0
2.8 %
0.2 %
10.8 %
80.3 %
2015
65.3
38.9
18,830
43.1
2.2 %
−0.5 %
9.8 %
82.6 %
2016
70.1
40.4
19,589
44.8
3.2 %
−0.1 %
8.9 %
78.5 %
2017
75.8
43.0
20,820
48.6
4.8 %
1.4 %
7.8 %
74.1 %
2018
81.1
45.9
22,136
54.2
4.4 %
1.7 %
5.9 %
70.3 %
2019
85.4
48.4
23,167
54.4
3.3 %
1.6 %
4.8 %
65.6 %
Companies
In 2022, the sector with the highest number of companies registered in Slovenia is Services with 60,260 companies followed by Wholesale Trade and Construction with 9,980 and 9,010 companies respectively.[47]
^ ab"Aktivno prebivalsto". Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenia. 18 November 2014. Demographic. Archived from the original on 12 December 2014.
^"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
