Slovenia's trade gap on goods widens

Slovenia's merchandise imports increased nearly twice as fast as exports last year, resulting in a foreign trade deficit of €7.6 billion, up from €2.1 billion recorded in 2023, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Goods exports rose by 12% to €61.5 billion, while imports were up by 21% to €69.1 billion in 2024, putting the export-import ratio at 89%, data from the Statistical Office show.

Trade with EU countries rose only marginally while much more robust growth was recorded in trade with countries outside the 27-nation bloc.

Exports to EU markets rose by 1.1% to €30.9 billion and imports from those markets were up by 0.8% to €32.3 billion.

Meanwhile, exports to non-EU markets increased by 25% to €30.5 billion and imports from those markets were up by 47% to €36.8 billion.

Excluding processing activities, exports to non-EU countries grew by 3.6% to €10.3 billion and imports from there were up by 1.1% to €9.2 billion.

Slovenia's most important export markets in 2024 were Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, Italy, and Austria. In the same period, Slovenia imported most goods from Switzerland, Germany, China, India and Italy.

Compared to 2023, exports to Switzerland and imports from India increased the most.

The most traded group of products was chemicals and related products. They accounted for 45.6% of total exports and 49.5% of total imports. The latter share doubled compared to 2023.