| ECONOMY |
| |
| Overview |
Slovenia,
with its historical ties to Western Europe, enjoys a GDP per
capita substantially higher than that of the other transitioning
economies of Central Europe. Privatization of the economy
proceeded at an accelerated pace in 2002-3, and the budget
deficit dropped from 3.0% of GDP in 2002 to 1.9% in 2003.
Despite the economic slowdown in Europe in 2001-03, Slovenia
maintained 3% growth. Structural reforms to improve the business
environment allow for greater foreign participation in Slovenia's
economy and help to lower unemployment. Further measures to
curb inflation are also needed. Corruption and the high degree
of coordination between government, business, and central
bank policy are issues of concern in the run-up to Slovenia's
scheduled 1 May 2004 accession to the European Union. |
| GDP |
purchasing
power parity - $37.06 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate |
3.2% (2002
est.) |
| GDP
- per capita |
purchasing
power parity - $19,200 (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector |
agriculture:
3.2%
industry: 36.3%
services: 60.5% (2001 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line |
NA% |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices) |
7.4% (2002
est.) |
| Labor
force |
857,400 |
| Labor
force - by occupation |
agriculture
NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
| Unemployment
rate |
11% (2002
est.) |
| Industries |
ferrous metallurgy
and aluminum products, lead and zinc smelting, electronics
(including military electronics), trucks, electric power equipment,
wood products, textiles, chemicals, machine tools |
| Industrial
production growth rate |
2.4% (2002)
|
