www.vlada.si

Official name: Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija)     

Digraph: SI

Government: parliamentary republic

Independence: June 25, 1991

Chief of State: President Janez Drnovsek

Head of government: Prime Minister Janez Jansa

Supreme legislative body: National Assembly

Membership of international organisations: the United Nations and its organisations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the "World Bank"), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter American Development Bank, an active participant in NATOs Partnership for Peace Programme, World Trade Organisation

Membership in groups of states: European Union

Official language: Slovenian

Geographical location: Central Europe; borders with Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Italy

Capital: Ljubljana

Port: Koper (Adriatic Sea)

International airports: Ljubljana, Maribor, Portoroz

Area: 20,256 sq. km

Coastline: 46.6 km

Population: 1,987.971 (2002)

Ethnic composition of population: Slovenian - 83.06%, other - 17.94% (census 2002)

Religion: mainly Roman Catholic

Literacy: 100%

Media:

Daily newspapers: 4

Radio stations: a national radio station (Radio Slovenija) and a number of regional, local and commercial radio stations

TV stations: a national TV station (TV Slovenija) and a number of commercial, regional and local TV stations

Weights and measures: metric system

National currency: tolar; 1 tolar = 100 stotins

Exchange rate: Bank of Slovenia's latest exchange rates  

Country risk: DB2c (Dun and Bradstreet)

International Economic Relations

The country's strategic location places Slovenia right in the middle of one of the world's most exciting business regions. Slovenia sits on the intersection of several of Europe's historic crossroads. And unlike many Central and Eastern European countries, Slovenia also has direct access to the sea through the Port of Koper.

Investing in Slovenia

Administrative procedures prerequisite to the start-up of operation are closely similar to those in the EU member countries. In the case of foreign countries, the "national treatment principle" applies, i.e. those companies in partial or 100-percent foreign ownership are subject to the same legal order as Slovenian companies; hence their rights and obligations in all respects are identical (company establishment, employment, taxation, import duties, etc.).

Successful investment projects by recognised international companies bear witness of a high trust, among the investors, in the Slovenian economy and in Slovenia as a location for foreign direct investment.

Statistics on Foreign Trade

With the accession of Slovenia to the European Union (1^st of May 2004) the methodology for collecting and presenting data on external trade partly changed.

After entering the European Union, Slovenia maintained very positive business cycle indicators and foreign trade in 2005. Slovenia has a distinctly export-oriented economy and the value of its exports have been increasing steadily since 1996 (with the exception of 1999).

The most Slovenian companies export to Croatia (63.8% of total Slovenian exporters), Bosnia and Herzegovina (33.9% of total Slovenian exporters) and imports from Germany and Italy (37.8% of total Slovenian importers).

An analysis reveals the following:

Slovenia imported more goods then exported for several years.
In 2005, according to data from the Statistical Office, Slovenia exported over 14 billion euros goods, this was 12.6% increase over 2004. 
Imports also increased in 2005 by 11.7 percent over 2004.
The trade balance deficit was in 2005 worth almost 1,408 million euros and was bigger than in 2004. Exports covered 91.1% of imports in 2005, and was bigger than in 2004 (90.4%).

Growth in the value of exports and imports over the last ten years is shown in the tables below.

Table 1: Exports and imports between 1996 - 2005, in EUR

Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia

Main economic indicators

In the last few years Slovenia recorded relatively high economic growth, higher than the EU average. In 2004 the GDP real growth rate reached 4.2 %, whereas forecast for 2005 and 2006 is 4.0 %. Slovenian GDP reached EUR 25,919 mio and EUR 13,103 per capita, respectively. In 2004, GDP growth in Slovenia, boosted by dynamic foreign trade, reached 4.6 % - the highest rate in the last five years. Slovenian exports of goods and services rose by 12.6 %. However, the contribution of domestic demand to the growth was also evident in 2004. Investments continued to play a crucial role in domestic business activity, reaching a 6.8 % growth.  The government deficit, accounting for 1.9 % of GDP, remained in the frames of the convergence criteria. * growth of index denotes appreciation of SIT and vice versa Source: IMAD, 2006