Ljubljana, 14 November (STA) - Slovenia's GDP growth accelerated to 1.4% in real terms in the third quarter of the year compared to the same quarter last year, after the economy grew at 0.7% in quarter two, considerably below the Q1 figure of 2.1%, the Statistics Office (SURS) said on Thursday. Annual growth in January-September also reached 1.4%.
EU-compatible seasonally-adjusted data puts annual growth in quarter three at 1% and quarterly growth at 0.3%.
Despite gaining momentum in July-September compared to April-June, growth was more subdued than at the end of 2023 or even at the start of 2024.
While domestic expenditure dropped 0.4% year-on-year in Q3, mainly due to a major 13.6% drop in capital gross formation, foreign trade added 1.9 percentage points to the growth.
Annual growth in exports in the third quarter of the year reached as much as 8.4%, while growth in imports reached only 6.5%. Both goods and services posted growth.
Construction of buildings posted the biggest drop in investment, at 14.5%, which was reflected in overall trends in the construction industry, which saw a 10.3% annual drop in activity.
Inventories also negatively affected the GDP, shedding growth by 1.3 points.
Final consumption increased by 3.8% annually, with government expenditure growing the most, at 9.1%, while household spending rose by 1.9%.
Manufacturing grew at 5% annually in July-September, considerably more than in previous quarters.
GDP growth in real terms in the first nine months was 1.4%, close to the 1.5% forecast for entire 2024 by some international institutions. Others put it at 2.3 to 2.5%.
Slovenia's economy expanded by 2.1% in 2023 in real terms, driven by gross fixed capital formation and household spending, while it posted 2.7% growth in 2022.
