Ljubljana, 17 November (STA) - Slovenia has seen an increase in the number growth companies in the most recent period. Between 2019 and 2023 their number rose by 6.6% over the previous period to 3,277. They represented 2.7% of all companies in the country but employed almost a tenth of all workers, according to AJPES, the agency for public legal records.
AJPES compiles the list of growth companies every year for the past five years. The latest survey, for the period between 2019 and 2023, included 122,280 companies and sole proprietors.
Of those enterprises, 3,277 or 2.7% of all met criteria for growth companies. In the 2018-2022 period 3,074 subjects or 2.6% of all qualified as growth companies.
Fourteen of the companies have been posting high growth for 13 years, while 834 made the list for the first time.
The 3,277 growth companies employed 53,147 people, or 9.2% of all workforce in the country. They generated a combined EUR 18 billion in net sales revenue and a net profit of EUR 1.3 billion.
Growth companies are present in all industries and across all statistical regions. The highest shares of such companies were recorded in mining and health and social care sectors, with Koroška and Podravje as the leading regions.
Meanwhile, the most important sector in terms of the number of growth enterprises and the net revenue they generate is trade, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles, where 679 such companies were active over the five-year period.
Manufacturing was the leading industry in terms of jobs; 608 growth companies employed 33.4% of all workers.
Growth and creation of jobs is driven by small and medium-sized enterprises, which together account for 57.6% of all growth companies. In 2023, these enterprises employed 67.2% of all workers and generated 55.8% of all net sales revenue in growth companies.
