Slovenia

GLOBAL RANK: 23rd= of 104

Slovenia ranks amongst the highest Eastern European countries at 23rd place, tied with the Czech Republic. The country achieves a consistent 23rd in Economic Competitiveness and 24th in Comparative Liveability, due to good education and significant satisfaction with freedom of choice.

Slovenia was formerly one of the most productive and prosperous regions of Yugoslavia, and its transition to a prosperous capitalist economy has been smooth. In 2004 the country achieved EU membership, and in 2007 it entered the Eurozone. It is currently preparing for accession to the OECD. Slovenia enjoys a strategic central European location, a highly-educated and racially homogeneous population, and low crime and corruption levels. Although the Slovenian government has taken a cautious approach to market reforms, state control of the banking sector is diminishing, and Slovenia is increasingly successful at attracting foreign investment.

Population	2 million (2008 est.)
Average Life Satisfaction	5.8 (2006 est.)
GDP (PPP)	$54.67 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (Growth)	6.1% (2007 est.)
GDP (per Capita)	$27,200 (2007 est.)

FDI (net inflow)	1.77% (2006 est.)
Exports	54.88% (2006 est.)
Imports	60.18% (2006 est.)
Unemployment	4.8% (2007 est.)
Life Expectancy	76.73 years (2008 est.)

Political System

Parliamentary Republic

Foreign Aid

0.19%
(2004 est.)

Slovenia ranks well above the regional average in terms of Economic Competitiveness. It benefits from a superb ability to engage with the global economy, crucial for such a small country, as well as effective governance and a high quality of regulation. The foreign direct investment stock in the country is around $7.5 billion, focused in the automotive and electronics sectors. Both exports and imports have grown significantly since 1992 (from around $6.5 billion to over $20 billion in each direction). The sum of foreign trade and investment today reaches almost 120% of the country’s GDP, which translates into high levels of capital investment.

Slovenia has an excellent mass education system that can compete with Western European standards. 6% of the GDP and almost 13% of public expenditure is dedicated to education spending, producing a well-qualified labour force. The large numbers of researchers working in research and development suggests that this comparative advantage in human capital extends to the highest-skilled segments of the workforce.

In line with the favourable economic dynamics, Comparative Liveability is also high in Slovenia. The country shows an optimistic outlook that is at odds with regional trends. Besides the objective indicators, such as high incomes and sound democracy, Slovenians claim to be happy with their health conditions and their freedom of choice.

81% of the population is satisfied with personal health. Healthcare is supported by high public expenditure on health (over 6% of the GDP), which is coupled with another 2% from private sources. Health-adjusted life expectancy is significantly higher than the regional average (70 years compared to roughly 65).

One area in which Slovenia’s scores are less positive is equality of opportunity. Although women’s share of national income is moderately good at 61% of that of men, the number of women in parliament is quite low at 8%. This is reinforced by pessimism about the opportunities for advancement, with only 66%^g of people agreeing that Slovenians can get ahead through hard work -- although this is actually comparatively high for Eastern Europe.

Significant levels of charitable giving and volunteering, along with a large proportion of Slovenians reporting they have someone to rely on in times of trouble, testify to a good community and family life and suggest strong social cohesion.

All subindicator scores in the Index are shown unweighted, expressed as a percentage of the score for the best-performing country in the Index. Indicator scores (in dark blue) are derived from the weighted average of relevant subindicators. For more information on how the subindicator scores are weighted to produce indicator scores and an overall Index score and ranking, see Chapter Two of this report.

References:
^g, ^w Click here for further details including date of survey, sample size, and margin of error.