Economy ———-
Economic overview: Slovenia appears to be making a solid economic recovery, fulfilling the promise it showed at the time of Yugoslavia's breakup. Its per capita GDP is now the highest in Central and Eastern Europe and not far below the levels in the poorer West European countries. Slovenia has benefited from strong ties to Western Europe and suffered comparatively small physical damage during Yugoslavia's breakup. The beginning was difficult, however. Real GDP fell 15% in 1991-92, while inflation soared to 200% in 1992 and unemployment reached 9%. The turning point came in 1993, when real GDP grew 1%, unemployment leveled off, and inflation slowed dramatically. In 1994, real GDP rose 5.5%, tapering off to an estimated 4.8% in 1995, while inflation and unemployment both were down to about 8% by late 1995. The government gets good marks from foreign observers for fiscal policy - the budget deficit has not exceeded 1% of GDP in any year since 1991, and the current account balance has remained in surplus throughout the transition period, with the exception of 1995. The Slovene privatization program, which began in 1994, involves about 1,400 firms, but only 412 have been privatized. The rest are expected to reach private hands by end-1996, but that does not include firms in so-called strategic industries, such as telecommunications and energy. Foreign investment jumped to an estimated $150 million in 1995 from $83.7 million in 1994. With inflation and unemployment expected to continue edging down, the outlook for 1996 is generally good. A slowdown in Western Europe - which buys 70% of Slovenia's exports - could hurt exports, however, lowering GDP growth to about 4% and perhaps pushing the current account into a small deficit.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $22.6 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 4.8% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $11,000 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 5.3% industry: 39.9% services: 54.8% (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8% (December 1995 est.)
Labor force: 786,036 by occupation: agriculture 2%, manufacturing and mining 46%
Unemployment rate: 8% (December 1995 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $6.6 billion
expenditures: $6.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1993)