Slovenian Economy Grows at 4.6% in 2004
Surging exports and a jump in domestic consumption are behind the fastest growth of GDP in Slovenia since 1999, as the economy expanded by 4.6 percent last year, the National Statistics Office said on Tuesday.
Stronger-than-expected growth in the last quarter of 2004, which stood at 4.3 percent, capped off a strong year of growth for the Slovenian economy.
The robust growth represents a rebound from a lackluster 2003, when GDP expanded by only 2.5 percent, the lowest rate since independence in 1991.
According to preliminary data from the office, the slowest growth was registered in the first quarter, when the economy grew at 4.1 percent.
The pace picked up to 4.9 percent in the second and 5 percent in the third quarter before dropping to 4.3 percent in the last quarter.
Figures show that an improvement in the balance of trade meant the trade detracted only 0.2 percentage points from growth, 2 percentage points better than in 2003.
Exports grew by 12.6 percents and imports by 12.4 percent last year, the data shows.
Although the contribution of government spending fell by 1 percentage point, this was offset by stronger private consumption. Domestic spending was up 4.7 percent on the year.
Moreover, the fact that 2004 had five working days more than 2003 added 0.5 percentage points to growth, the office said.
At current exchange rates, GDP amounted to EUR 25.919bn or EUR 12,977 per capita.
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