Slovenia Property Investment News

Slovenia’s economy sees rapid first quarter growth

Slovenia's economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.2% in the first quarter of this year. This is the country’s fastest rate of economic growth since the second quarter of 1999. The growth in 1999 was due to a spending rush ahead of the introduction of VAT, whereas this year’s first quarter growth was fuelled by flourishing exports, domestic spending and investment. It is the fifth consecutive quarter that Slovenia’s economy has expanded around or above the 5% mark. The primary catalyst for this first quarter growth was Slovenia's exports, which grew by 13.6% compared to the same period last year, while imports also saw positive growth at 13.7%.

This fast economic growth had been expected, as all indicators had been pointing to a healthy and growing economy for some time. Slovenia’s economy minister, Andrej Vizjak, stated that the ministry had been looking forward to strong growth given the trends in exports and investments. "But I must admit that we are pleasantly surprised by the final figure," said Vizjak, who referred to the growth rate as "a big achievement".

The Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD), the Slovenian government think tank, sees this as healthy structural growth and does not expect it to cause significant inflation in the coming months. IMAD believes that, as the growth was generated by strong production and exports, while domestic consumption was largely subdued, the growth is sustainable in the future.

Slovenia's economists are predicting a bright future for the country’s economy on the back of this growth. Sašo Polanec of the Ljubljana Economics Faculty states, “If this rate of growth continues, Slovenia will catch up with Italy in terms of GDP per capita within three to four years.”