Slovenia’s GDP down by 2.6% y/y in third quarter

Ljubljana – Slovenia’s gross domestic product (GDP) was down 2.6% year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter, the Statistics Office reported on Monday. In seasonally-adjusted terms, GDP was up 12.4% compared to the quarter before while dropping 2.9% year-on-year.

In the first nine months of the year, Slovenia’s economy shrunk by 6% compared to the same period in 2019.

Domestic consumption in the third quarter of 2020 was down by 5% year-on-year, with final consumption dropping by 0.3%, and gross investments by almost a fifth (-19.6%).

The main reason for the significant drop in gross investments was the reduction of inventories, the Statistics Office said.

Exports in the third quarter decreased by 9.5% compared to the same period in 2019, with exports of goods dropping by 4.6% and exports of services by 25.8%.

Imports on the other hand were down by 13.1%, as imports of goods decreased by 11.2% and imports of services by 22.4%.

The decreased volume of travel contributed the most both to the contraction of exports and imports.

The Statistics Office noted that within final consumption in the third quarter, a drop was recorded only in final consumption by households (-0.9%).

“This reduction was less pronounced than in the first two quarters of the year,” it said, adding that in the first it was 6.3% and in the second it was 17.4%.

Final consumption by households on the domestic market was down by 6% year-on-year, with a reduction in expenditure for services and fuel contributing the most. Expenditure for durable goods was meanwhile up by 4.3%.

Final consumption by the state was up by 1.4% in the third quarter year-on-year, while gross investments in fixed assets were down by 1.8%.

Investments in machinery and equipment was down, while investments in buildings and civil engineering structures was up by 2.7%.

The number of persons in employment was down by 1.8% or 19,237 year-on-year to 1,034,564.

Year-on-year, Slovenia’s GDP in the first quarter of 2020 was down by 2.4%, and in the second quarter it was down by 13%. In seasonally-adjusted terms, it was down by 3.5% and 12.9%, respectively.

In seasonally-adjusted terms at the quarterly level, it was down by 4.7% in the first quarter, and by 9.8% in the second quarter.

Statistics Office analysts expect that at the end of the year, GDP drop will not be as pronounced as in the second quarter. First assessments for the whole year are expected to be published at the end of February.

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