Ljubljana, 31 January (STA) - Slovenia's general government revenue increased by 11.5% to EUR 27.91 billion in 2024 from 2023 and expenditure rose by 5.7% to EUR 28.87 billion. This puts deficit at EUR 951 million or 1.4% of GDP, which is EUR 1.32 billion below that in 2023, shows preliminary figures released by the Finance Ministry on Friday.
Based on the cash-flow methodology, national budget revenue increased by 12.1% to EUR 14.60 billion while expenditure edged up 0.3% to nearly EUR 15.40 billion.
Revenue from taxes rose by 10.8% to EUR 12.12 billion, while non-tax revenue rose by 70.9% to just over EUR 1.24 billion. EU funds dropped by 4.5% to EUR 1.04 billion.
Expenditure increased by 14.6% to EUR 4.99 billion and current transfers by 1.8% to just over EUR 8.26 billion.
Investment expenditure and transfers dropped by 31.8% to EUR 1.50 billion from 2023, a record year in terms of investment.
The national budget thus ran a deficit of EUR 795 billion or 1.2% of GDP, which is by EUR 1.5 billion less than in 2023.
When the budget for 2024 was passed in November 2023, deficit was planned at EUR 2.2 billion, or 3.3% of GDP.
As for municipalities, their revenue reached EUR 3 billion last year, with the most coming from income and profit taxes (50.8%) and transferred revenue (14.8%).
Total expenditure by municipalities reached EUR 3.24 billion, of which 35.6% went for investment and 18% for transfers to individuals and households.
The ministry said the expenditure data from 2024 and 2023 could not be directly compared because of abundant advance payments for post-flood reconstruction in 2023.
The municipalities carried out all the work last year, which led to their cumulative deficit of EUR 236 million.
Pension revenue and expenditure increased by 10.5% to EUR 7.85 billion.
Growth in revenue was driven by a 7% rise in social security payments and by a 28% rise in transfers from the national budget to just over EUR 1.44 billion.
The funds from the national budget for the pension purse were by almost 40% higher than pension purse manager ZPIZ had planned, which partly resulted from pensions rising by more than 1% compared to initial plans.
The public health purse recorded a 23.5% rise in revenue to EUR 5.33 billion and a 19.6% rise in expenditure to EUR 5.25 billion as top-up insurance was transformed into a mandatory contribution as of 2024.
However, public health manager ZZZS posted a surplus of EUR 79 million at the end of 2024, also due to receiving EUR 345 million from the national budget.
Compared to the 2024 financial plan, expenditure was EUR 88 million lower, while revenue was within the plans, the ministry said.