Republic of Slovenia

Wealth and National Well-Being

Country Comparisons:
2010: see chart

World Factbook: In 2009, the world recession caused the economy to contract - through falling exports and industrial production - by more than 8%,

2010: Slovenia spends 6 percent of its GDP on education, and is listed with 30.1% of graduates from higher education in the 25-34 age group, compared to neighboring countries, Italy and Austria, with 18.9% each. A majority of Slovenes can speak Croatian, English and German.

Health care reflected in infant mortality ranks well above the United States. The role of private enterprise in public health care has been a divisive issue in past years. There is compulsory health insurance competing with private insurance, leaving virtually all Slovene citizens covered.

Public debt
2010: 35.5% of GDP

Budget
2010: revenues 22.56 billion, 88.4% of expenditures ($25.53 billion)

Import/export
2010: imports exceed exports, $25.96 billion to $24.97 billion

Unemployment rate
2010: 10.6%
2009: 9.4%
2008: 6.7%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
2004: Top ten percent of population, 24.6; bottom 10 percent, 3.4%

Public debt
2009: 34% of GDP

Military expenditures as a percentage of GDP
2005:1.7%

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 50%. Only 2.2 percent are in agriculture in 2009. Slovenia must have a lot of little towns.

According to the Eurobarometer Poll in 2005, 37% of Slovenian citizens claim that "they believe there is a god", 46% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 16% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force."

Religions
2002 census: Catholic 57.8%. Muslim 2.4%, Orthodox 2.3%, other Christian 0.9%, unaffiliated 3.5%, other or unspecified 23%, none 10.1%.Affiliation with the Catholic Church is declining by 1 percent per year, according to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Census of Population, Households and Housing, 2002

Ethnicity
2002 census: Slovene 83.1%, Serb 2%, Croat 1.8%, Bosniak 1.1%, other or unspecified 12%

Geography

South of Austria, north of Croatia, west of Hungary, east of Italy, with 46.6 kilometers (29 miles) of coastline along the Gulf of Venice. Mountains and valleys. Equivalent to 142.4 by 142.4 kilometers (89 by 89 miles).

Government

A stable parliamentary republic and democracy. Capital: Ljubljana.

Recent History

The Slovenes were part of Austria until 1918. In 1929 they joined the Serbs and Croats in the formation of Yugoslavia.

June 21, 1991: Independence from Yugoslavia

In March 2004, Slovenia became the first transition country to graduate from borrower status to donor partner at the World Bank. It also joined NATO and the European Union in 2004.

May 12, 2010: Unlike some other former Communist countries, Slovenia transformed its economy without shock therapy. This worked better. The World Factbook writes that Slovenia,

is a model of economic success and stability for the region. With the highest per capita GDP in Central Europe, Slovenia has excellent infrastructure, a well-educated work force, and a strategic location between the Balkans and Western Europe. Privatization has lagged since 2002, and the economy has one of highest levels of state control in the EU.