That dollar amount results from a 33.3% increase from $86.7 billion 5 years earlier in 2020.
From 2023 to 2024, the overall value of Slovakian exports declined by -1.4% compared to $117.3 billion.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, Slovakia uses the euro which flatlined via a 0.02% gain against the US dollar from 2023 to 2024. The slightly stronger European Union currency made Slovakia’s exports paid for in weaker US dollars modestly more expensive for international buyers starting with American currency.
Officially named the Slovak Republic, Slovakia is a member of the European Union strategically located in Central Europe. The mountainous country shares its northern border with Poland, eastern border with Ukraine, southern border with Hungary and western border with the Czech Republic and Austria.
Slovakia top 5 most valuable exported products are cars, automobile parts or accessories, phone devices including smartphones, television receivers or monitors and projectors, and rubber tires. Collectively, that cohort of major products represents 43.8% of total Slovakian revenues from export sales in 2024. That percentage suggests a relatively concentrated portfolio of exports.
Slovak’s Most Valuable Exports Customers
The latest available country-specific data shows that 79.1% of products exported from Slovakia was bought by importers in: Germany (21.4% of the Slovakian total), Czech Republic (12.1%), Hungary (7.8%), Poland (7.6%), Austria (5.3%), France (4.7%), United Kingdom (4.4%), Italy (4.3%), United States of America (4.2%), Romania (2.6%), mainland China (2.4%) and Spain (2.3%).
From a continental perspective, 86.5% of Slovakia’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 7% were sold to importers in Asia. Slovakia shipped another 4.8% worth of goods to customers located in North America.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in Africa (0.8%), Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (0.49%) then Oceania led by Australia and New Zealand (0.4%).
Slovakia sold 77.7% of its exports by value to fellow European Union member states.
Given Slovakia’s population of 5.43 million people, its total $115.6 billion in 2024 exported goods translates to roughly $21,300 for every resident in the Central European nation. That dollar metric lags the average $21,600 per capita one year earlier in 2023.
Slovakia’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Slovakian global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Slovakia.
- Vehicles: US$39.8 billion (34.4% of total exports)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $18.7 billion (16.1%)
- Machinery including computers: $12.9 billion (11.2%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $4.6 billion (4%)
- Iron, steel: $4.1 billion (3.5%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $3.5 billion (3.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $2.9 billion (2.5%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $2.7 billion (2.3%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: $1.5 billion (1.3%)
- Paper, paper items: $1.4 billion (1.2%)
Slovakia’s top 10 exports generated 79.6% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Rubber, both as materials and including articles made in rubber, was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories up by 19.2% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was mineral fuels including oil via an 11.9% advance.
Slovakia’s shipments of paper plus items made from paper items posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 6.1%.
The leading decliner among Slovakia’s top 10 export categories were the metals iron and steel, thanks to a -12.7% year-over-year drop.
The above listed product categories are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System codes, Slovakia’s most valuable exported products are cars (27.5% of the Slovakian total), then automobile parts or accessories (6.2%) trailed by phone devices including smartphones (4.5%), television reception apparatus, monitors and projectors (3.1%), new rubber tires (2.5%), electrical energy (2.2%), insulated wire or cable (1.6%), refined petroleum oils (1.4%), electrical lighting or signaling equipment and defrosters (1.2%), then air or vacuum pumps (1%).
Products Behind Slovakia’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Slovakian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Vehicles: US$19.4 billion (Down by -2.2% since 2023.)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $1.2 billion (Up by 46.2%)
- Iron, steel: $1.1 billion (Down by -5.4%)
- Wood: $498.1 million (Up by 30.1%)
- Paper, paper items: $429.6 million (Up by 27.2%)
- Cereals: $411.4 million (Down by -14.3%)
- Arms, ammunition: $356.2 million (Up by 108.2%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $342.9 million (Up by 14.4%)
- Railways, streetcars: $246.7 million (Down by -52.1%)
- Fertilizers: $218 million (Up by 20.8%)
Historically, Slovakia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of cars. In turn, these cashflows indicate Slovakia’s strong competitive advantages under the vehicles product category.
Products Causing Slovakia’s Worst Trade Deficits
The Slovak Republic reversed an overall US$1.9 billion trade surplus for 2023 recording a -$99.7 million deficit one year later in 2024.
Below are exports from Slovakia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Slovakia’s goods trail Slovakian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$4.8 billion (Down by -18.3% since 2023)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$4 billion (Down by -7.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$2.2 billion (Up by 8.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.5 billion (Up by 6.1%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$949.6 million (Up by 13.7%)
- Meat: -$876.7 million (Up by 16.4%)
- Machinery including computers: -$822.1 million (Up by 198.5%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: -$721.2 million (Up by 29.2%)
- Other chemical goods: -$634.1 million (Up by 8.6%)
- Ores, slag, ash: -$500.7 million (Down by -16.6%)
Slovakia has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for petroleum gases, crude oil and coal under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Slovakian Export Companies
Not one Slovakian corporation ranked among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia does list companies from Slovakia that engage in international trade. Selected examples are shown below.
- Elnec (programmable circuit systems)
- Glass LPS (crystal products)
- Matador (tires)
- Slovalco (aluminum)
- Slovenský plynárenský priemysel AS (natural gas)
- Slovnaft (refined oil, petrochemicals)
- ZTS OSOS (ammunition)
In macroeconomic terms, Slovakia’s total exported goods represent 46.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($247.3 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 46.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 49.5% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Slovakia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Also, note that these metrics include a significant amount of re-exporting activity partly driven by Slovakia’s strategic geographic location.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Slovakia’s unemployment rate averaged 5.358% for 2024, down from an average 5.817% in 2023 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
See also Slovakia’s Top Trading Partners, Top EU Export Countries, Germany’s Top Trading Partners, Czech Republic’s Top Trading Partners and Poland’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Europe: Slovakia. Accessed on December 21, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on December 21, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on December 21, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on December 21, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on December 21, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on December 21, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Slovakia. Accessed on December 21, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on December 21, 2025
Wikipedia, Slovakia. Accessed on December 21, 2025
X-rates.com, Exchange Rates: Euro to US Dollar (monthly average 2024)