STA, 16 May 2022 - Slovenia's economy expanded at an annual nominal rate of 9.8% in the first quarter of this year driven by household spending and capital expenditure. The seasonally adjusted rate was 9.6%. At the quarterly level GDP was up by 0.8%, a significant slowdown compared to the 5.3% recorded in the previous quarter, the Statistics Office said on Monday.
Domestic consumption increased by 16.6% year-on-year with household expenditure up by 20% as the main driver of growth. Gross fixed capital formation increased by 12.7%. Changes of inventories had a positive impact on GDP growth as well.
External trade, for years the main engine of growth, has exerted a negative impact on GDP since the start of the pandemic due to surging imports and the trend remained unchanged in the first quarter.
With imports up by 15.7% and exports increasing by only 7.7% year-on-year, the contribution of external trade balance to GDP growth was negative again, shaving 5.6 percentage points off GDP growth.
Total value added increased by 9.3% over the first quarter of 2021. Trade, transport, and accommodation and food service activities grew by 21.8% and contributed the most to the structure of total value added. Construction increased by 16.7%.
Services continued to grow strong in the first quarter, while manufacturing growth slowed for the third consecutive quarter but remained positive, at 3.9%. Net taxes contributed significantly to GDP growth as they grew by 13.2% over the same period last year.
The payrolls total rose by 3.3% to 1,073,000 persons. The bulk of the new jobs were created in accommodation and food service activities, manufacturing, and construction.
