February 26 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's economy contracted by a real 5.5% year-on-year in 2020, the country's statistical office said on Friday.
Slovenia's 2020 GDP amounted to 46.3 billion euro ($56.1 billion) at current prices, down by a nominal 4.3% from 2019, the statistical office said in a statement.
In 2019, Slovenia's GDP grew by 2.4%.
Domestic expenditure dropped by about 6.5% on the year in 2020, strongly influenced by a 9.8% decrease in household consumption expenditure.
Exports dropped by 8.7% on the year in 2020, while imports declined by 10.2%. External trade balance at the end of 2020 amounted to 4.6 billion euro, 0.4% higher than in 2019.
There were 1,036,600 employed people in Slovenia in 2020, down 1% compared with a year earlier. The worst hit industries were administrative and support services, manufacturing, and accommodation and food service activities.
In the fourth quarter alone, Slovenia's GDP decreased by 4.5% year-on-year, after falling by an annual 2.6% in the third quarter.
Earlier this month, the European Commission cut its economic growth forecast for Slovenia in 2021 to 4.7% from 5.1% projected in November.
($ = 0.8251 euro)