Xifres de comerç exterior d'Eslovènia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Slovenia is highly open to foreign trade, which represents about 160% of the country's GDP (World Bank, latest data available). This high level of openness makes Slovenia very dependent on the economic health of its main commercial partners: the country is integrated within German and Austrian production chains for automobiles and electrical and electronic equipment, and in Swiss chains for the pharmaceuticals industry, and generates more than half of its goods exports from these four sectors. The largest share of total trade in 2023 was medicinal and pharmaceutical products, constituting approximately one-third (34%) of the total export value. Following closely were products in the categories of road vehicles (8.4%), electrical machinery, apparatus, and appliances (6.7%), general industrial machinery and equipment (4.1%), and petroleum, petroleum products, and related materials (3.7%). Regarding imports, organic chemicals took precedence, accounting for 19.0% of the total imports and displaying a twofold increase compared to the previous year. They were succeeded by medicinal and pharmaceutical products (14.3%), road vehicles (8.0%), petroleum, petroleum products, and related materials (6.1%), and electrical machinery, apparatus, and appliances (5.2% - data Slovenia Statistical Office).

Data from the national statistical office show that in 2023 the main export destinations were Switzerland (27.3% of the total), Germany (13.5%), Italy (8.6%), Croatia (7.8%), and Austria (5.7%); while the country imported the most in terms of value from Switzerland (16.4%), China (13.0%), Germany (12.2%), Italy (10.3%), and Austria (7.2%). The EU accounted for 55.5% of total exports and 55.9% of imports.

Slovenia’s overall trade balance is structurally positive; however, the country is generally a net importer of goods. The trend reversed in 2023, when exports and imports of goods stood at USD 73 billion and 71.4 billion, respectively. In the same year, services exports reached USD 12.7 billion against USD 8.5 billion in imports (data WTO). Therefore, the country’s overall trade balance was estimated to be positive by 6.4% of GDP (from 1.7% in 2022). The latest data from Statistics Slovenia show that, in 2024, the country recorded a trade deficit of EUR 7.63 billion (USD 7.9 billion). Exports totalled EUR 61.48 billion, rising by 11.8% year over year, while imports increased by 21.1% to EUR 69.1 billion.