That dollar amount reflects a 52.1% rise from $36.5 billion in 2018.
Year over year, the overall value of Slovenian exports accelerated by 24.8% compared to $37.5 billion during 2021.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, Slovenia’s legal currency is the euro which depreciated by -12.1% against the US dollar since 2018 and weakened by -12.3% from 2022 to 2022. The weaker European Union currency in 2022 made Slovenian exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Slovenia’s Most Valuable Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 78.5% of products exported from Slovenia was bought by importers in: Switzerland (21% of the Slovenian total), Germany (14.5%), Italy (10.6%), Croatia (8.4%), Austria (6.7%), France (3.4%), Serbia (2.8%), Hungary (2.5%), Poland (2.49%), Russia (2.2%), Czech Republic (2%) and Bosnia/Herzegovina (1.9%).
From a continental perspective, 92.2% of Slovenia’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 4.2% was sold to importers in Asia. Slovenia shipped another 2.1% worth of goods to North America.
Smaller percentages went to Africa (0.8%), Latin America (0.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.3%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Given Slovenia’s population of 2.11 million people, its total $55.5 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $26,300 for every resident in the south-central European nation. That dollar metric outpaces the average $22,200 per capita one year earlier for 2021.
Slovenia’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Slovenian global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Slovenia.
- Pharmaceuticals: US$15.3 billion (27.6% of total exports)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $5.4 billion (9.7%)
- Machinery including computers: $4.7 billion (8.4%)
- Vehicles: $4.6 billion (8.3%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $4.5 billion (8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $2.1 billion (3.7%)
- Iron, steel: $1.9 billion (3.4%)
- Aluminum: $1.8 billion (3.2%)
- Wood: $1.2 billion (2.2%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $1.17 billion (2.1%)
Slovenia’s top 10 exports accounted for just over three-quarters (76.6%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 132.1% from 2021 to 2022. That percentage increase was powered by greater international revenues from Slovenia’s exports of refined petroleum oils, electrical energy and petroleum gases.
In second place for improving export sales were pharmaceuticals via a 58.4% advance.
Slovenia’s shipments of the metals iron and steel posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 22.5%.
The lone decliner among Slovenia’s top 10 export categories was the vehicles product category, pulled down by a -14.5% year-over-year drop.
The above listed product groups are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more detailed four-digit HTS codes, Slovenia’s most lucrative exported product is medication mixes in dosage (25% of the Slovenian total). In second place were processed petroleum oils (4.7%) trailed by cars (4.5%), electrical energy (2.9%), blood fractions including antisera (2.4%), automobile parts or accessories (2.2%), electric water heaters and hair dryers (1.1%), new rubber tires (1%), items made from flat-rolled stainless steel (0.9%), then electric motor parts (also 0.9%).
Products Driving Slovenia’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Slovenian 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.
- Pharmaceuticals: US$6.3 billion (Up by 102.6% since 2021)
- Machinery including computers: $569.3 million (Up by 74.3%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $499.3 million (Up by 8.9%)
- Wood: $449.3 million (Up by 33.4%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $366.3 million (Down by -11%)
- Tanning, dyes, paints, varnishes, ink: $316.4 million (Up by 6.9%)
- Paper, paper items: $298.2 million (Up by 39.5%)
- Vehicles: $282 million (Down by -74.8%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $223.9 million (Up by 5.8%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $150.1 million (Up by 24.2%)
Slovenia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of pharmaceuticals. In turn, that cashflow indicates Slovenia’s strong competitive advantage under the pharmaceuticals product category.
Products Causing Slovenia’s Worst Trade Deficits
Slovenia incurred an overall -$4.24 billion trade deficit for 2022, expanding by 78.7% from -$2.38 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2021.
Below are exports from Slovenia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Slovenia’s goods trail Slovenian importer spending on foreign products.
- Organic chemicals: -US$5.5 billion (Up by 52.3% since 2021)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$3.8 billion (Up by 114.6%)
- Iron, steel: -$695.7 million (Down by -9.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$439.1 million (Up by 19.5%)
- Gems, precious metals: -$319.3 million (Up by 50.6%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: -$237.5 million (Up by 3%)
- Woodpulp: -$213.1 million (Up by 23.9%)
- Fertilizers: -$184.8 million (Up by 150.2%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): -$173.8 million (Up by 2.3%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: -$163.5 million (Up by 26.1%)
Slovenia has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for organic chemicals as well as mineral fuels-related products–particularly refined oils, petroleum gases and electrical energy.
Slovenian Export Companies
Not one Slovenian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia also lists companies based in Slovenia. Selected examples are shown below.
- Academa (custom software)
- Adria Mobil (motorhomes)
- Akrapovič (motorcycle exhaust systems)
- Alpina Žiri (shoes, boots)
- Gorenje (home appliances)
- Krka (pharmaceuticals)
- Litostroj (heavy machinery)
- Tomos (motorcycles)
In macroeconomic terms, Slovenia’s total exported goods represent 52.6% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($105.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 52.6% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 50.3% for 2021. This suggests a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Slovenia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Please note that those percentages include a significant amount of re-exporting activity partly due to the country’s proximity to European trading hubs notably the economic powerhouse Germany.
Another key economic signal is a country’s unemployment rate. In 2022, Slovenia’s jobless rate averaged 4% down from an average 4.725% for 2021.
Slovenia’s capital city is Ljubljana.
See also Germany’s Top Trading Partners, Lithuania’s Top 10 Exports, Croatia’s Top 10 Exports and Top EU Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Europe: Slovenia. Accessed on June 22, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 22, 2023
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (National Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on June 22, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on June 22, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 22, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 22, 2023
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on June 22, 2023
Wikipedia, Latvia. Accessed on June 22, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Slovenia. Accessed on June 22, 2023
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on June 22, 2023
Wikipedia, Latvia. Accessed on June 22, 2023
