Slovenia: Economy#

With excellent infrastructure, a well-educated work force, and a strategic location between the Balkans and Western Europe, Slovenia has one of the highest per capita GDPs in Central Europe, despite having suffered a protracted recession in 2008-2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis. Slovenia became the first 2004 EU entrant to adopt the euro (on 1 January 2007) and has experienced one of the most stable political transitions in Central and Southeastern Europe.

In March 2004, Slovenia became the first transition country to graduate from borrower status to donor partner at the World Bank. In 2007, Slovenia was invited to begin the process for joining the OECD; it became a member in 2012. However, long-delayed privatizations, particularly within Slovenia’s largely state-owned and increasingly indebted banking sector, have fueled investor concerns since 2012 that the country would need EU-IMF financial assistance. In 2013, the European Commission granted Slovenia permission to begin recapitalizing ailing lenders and transferring their nonperforming assets into a "bad bank" established to restore bank balance sheets. Export-led growth fueled by demand in larger European markets pushed GDP growth to 3.0% in 2014, while stubbornly-high unemployment fell slightly to 12%.

Prime Minister CERAR’s government took office in September 2014, pledging to press ahead with commitments to privatize a select group of state-run companies, rationalize public spending, and further stabilize the banking sector.

Economic Facts#

GDP (purchasing power parity)	$66.13 billion (2016 est.) $64.62 billion (2015 est.) $63.15 billion (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)	$44.12 billion (2015 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	2.3% (2016 est.) 2.3% (2015 est.) 3.1% (2014 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)	$32,000 (2016 est.) $31,300 (2015 est.) $30,600 (2014 est.) note: data are in 2016 dollars
Gross national saving	26.5% of GDP (2016 est.) 25.2% of GDP (2015 est.) 26% of GDP (2014 est.)
GDP - composition, by end use	household consumption: 51.7% government consumption: 18.6% investment in fixed capital: 19% investment in inventories: 0.8% exports of goods and services: 79.7% imports of goods and services: -69.8% (2016 est.)
GDP - composition, by sector of origin	agriculture: 2.3% industry: 33.6% services: 64.1% (2016 est.)
Agriculture - products	hops, wheat, coffee, corn, apples, pears; cattle, sheep, poultry
Industries	ferrous metallurgy and aluminum products, lead and zinc smelting; electronics (including military electronics), trucks, automobiles, electric power equipment, wood products, textiles, chemicals, machine tools
Industrial production growth rate	2% (2016 est.)
Labor force	918,700 (2016 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 8.3% industry: 30.8% services: 60.9% (2012 est.)
Unemployment rate	11.6% (2016 est.) 12.3% (2015 est.)
Population below poverty line	13.5% (2012 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.7% highest 10%: 21.1% (2012)
Distribution of family income - Gini index	23.7 (2012) 23.8 (2005)
Budget	revenues: $19.32 billion expenditures: $20.51 billion (2016 est.)
Taxes and other revenues	43.8% of GDP (2016 est.)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)	-2.7% of GDP (2016 est.)
Public debt	81.8% of GDP (2016 est.) 83.7% of GDP (2015 est.) note: defined by the EU's Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year in the following categories of government liabilities: currency and deposits, securities other than shares excluding f
Fiscal year	calendar year
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-0.2% (2016 est.) -0.7% (2015 est.)
Central bank discount rate	0.3% (10 September 2014) 0.75% (31 December 2013) note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility, which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area
Commercial bank prime lending rate	3.3% (31 December 2016 est.) 3.49% (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of narrow money	$16.18 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $14.39 billion (31 December 2015 est.) note: see entry for the European Union for money supply for the entire euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 18 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of
Stock of broad money	$26.11 billion (31 December 2014 est.) $25.92 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
Stock of domestic credit	$29.64 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $29.94 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares	$6.035 billion (31 December 2015 est.) $7.519 billion (31 December 2014 est.) $7.128 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
Current account balance	$3.398 billion (2016 est.) $2.217 billion (2015 est.)
Exports	$27.2 billion (2016 est.) $26.67 billion (2015 est.)
Exports - commodities	manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food
Exports - partners	Germany 19.1%, Italy 10.6%, Austria 8%, Croatia 6.8%, Slovakia 4.7%, Hungary 4.4%, France 4.2% (2015)
Imports	$25.52 billion (2016 est.) $25.01 billion (2015 est.)
Imports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, food
Imports - partners	Germany 16.5%, Italy 13.6%, Austria 10.2%, China 5.5%, Croatia 5.1%, Turkey 4% (2015)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	$851.3 million (31 December 2016 est.) $856.2 million (31 December 2015 est.)
Debt - external	$51.65 billion (31 March 2016 est.) $51.05 billion (31 March 2015 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home	$15.64 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $14.49 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad	$8.093 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $7.843 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Exchange rates	euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.9214 (2016 est.) 0.885 (2015 est.) 0.885 (2014 est.) 0.7634 (2013 est.) 0.7752 (2012 est.)