The Slovenian economy turned to a GDP growth of 1.6% year on year in real terms in the first quarter of 2021, after contracting 4.5% in the previous quarter, the statistics office said on May 31.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts a strong economic rebound in Slovenia as the pandemic abates, with GDP growing by 3.9% in 2021 and 4.5% in 2022.
Seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 2.3% compared to the same period in 2020 and by 1.4% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
In the first quarter of 2021, domestic expenditure in Slovenia increased by 1.4% year on year, the final consumption expenditure edged down by 0.1%, while gross capital formation went up by 6.4%, data indicated.
Exports of goods and services rose 0.8% y/y and imports moved up by 0.5% y/y.
Slovenia's financial and insurance sector increased the most in the first quarter by 10.6% y/y, followed by the IT sector (4.9%) and manufacturing (3.6%). The construction sector grew by 1.8% y/y.
The biggest drop was registered in the "other service activities" sector of 18% y/y. Agriculture and forestry dropped by 3.4% y/y, while transport sector declined 2.1%.
In 2020, Slovenia’s GDP declined by a real 5.5% due to the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile the OECD has upgraded its forecast for Slovenia's GDP growth this year by 0.1 pp to 3.5%, and to 4.6% for 2022, a rise of 1.1 points.