Sale in December

In December, we typically open our wallets the widest and spend more on purchases in stores than during the rest of the year. Nevertheless, sales increased slightly less than the year before. Last year, turnover of retail enterprises in December was 11.9% higher than the average monthly turnover for that year. However, retail turnover in December 2024 was 2.1% lower than in December 2023.

Which stores do we shop at more often in December?

Compared to the other months of 2024, December saw the largest increase in turnover in stores selling electronic and household appliances (by 34.4%) due to holiday gift purchases, and in food stores (by 14.9%) due to celebrations. Sales in stores selling cosmetics and pharmaceuticals also increased significantly (by 14.1%).

However, December 2024 was less successful than December 2023 for most major retail activity groups. Compared to December 2023, turnover in December last year increased in stores selling electronic and household appliances (by 19.5%) and in stores selling recreational goods (by 4.7%). In all other major retail trade activity groups, turnover went down. The largest decline was recorded in stores selling cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, where turnover in December last year was 6.0% lower than a year earlier, followed by furniture stores (down by 4.2%). 



We are more economical in our holiday shopping than other EU Member States

Residents of Slovenia tend to spend more in December than in other months of the year, but we are still much more prudent in our holiday shopping than most residents of other EU Member States. 

Sales of non-food products in Slovenia in December 2024 were significantly below the EU average compared to the average monthly sales in 2024. The difference between December sales and average monthly sales for 2024 in the EU was 22.1%, and in Slovenia 10.9%. Only Luxembourg recorded a smaller difference than Slovenia in the ranking of EU Member States. The largest difference was recorded in Czechia (40.8%). 
Slovenia ranked slightly higher in the ranking of growth in December sales of food products for 2024 compared to average monthly sales of food products. The difference was 14.9%, which was still below the EU average of 15.9%. The largest difference was recorded in Ireland (23.5%), while Croatia (3.0%) and Greece (2.8%) were at the bottom of the list.



Imports of products

Certain product groups are associated with the festive season and customs in December. This can also be seen in imports, as the last quarter of the year saw an increase in imports of products suitable for gifts and products for creating a festive atmosphere. The year 2024 was no exception, as imports of most product groups associated with celebrations and gift-giving increased. 

In the last quarter of last year, imports of fireworks saw the largest increase. They amounted to EUR 1.9 million, or 46.2% more than in the last quarter of 2023. In the same comparison, the value of imports of picture postcards and compliments of the season increased by 33.3%, amounting to EUR 0.4 million, which represented 50.0% of total imports last year. The value of imports of lighting strings for Christmas trees also increased. In the last quarter of last year, EUR 1.1 million of these sets were imported, which is 22.2% more than in the last quarter of the year before last.
On the other hand, compared to the last quarter of the year before last, the values of imports of sparkling wines and whiskeys were lower by 7.4% and 2.7%, respectively.



Festive December

At the end of the year, there are many public outdoor events, including concerts, parties, fairs, and children's events. In addition, cities put up festive lights, creating a cheerful atmosphere and attracting not only local visitors but also tourists. In municipality Ljubljana, domestic tourists generated the highest number of overnight stays in December last year, i.e. 11.9% of all their overnight stays in the capital in 2024. In the second largest municipality, Maribor, the share was 10.5%. In December last year, domestic tourists most often stayed in health (spa) resorts, which accounted for 44.5% of all their overnight stays in that month. These resorts were followed by mountain resorts (22.6%) and seaside resorts (17.5%). 

In December 2024, the largest number of domestic tourists stayed in accommodation establishments across Slovenia on the last day of the year, namely around 18,500. Municipality Kranjska Gora recorded the highest number of overnight stays by domestic tourists on 31 December 2024, with about 2,300 overnight stays, followed by municipality Bohinj with just over 1,600 overnight stays and municipality Brežice, home to Slovenia's largest natural health (spa) resort, with about 1,500 overnight stays.

December is also a month when we spend more time in restaurants and bars. Turnover from the sale of food and beverages in December last year was 4.9% higher than the average monthly turnover in the previous year. Turnover in this activity also increased compared to December 2023, namely by 7.4%.