Nonfinancial sector accounts, 2021
The reopening of the country and the gradual removal of restrictions in 2021 led to higher household consumption
Total economy surplus with the rest of the world declined after four years of growth. Non-financial corporations and the household sector had a lower surplus. After the surplus generated in 2020, financial corporations ended 2021 again with a deficit. Government sector deficit decreased.
Total economy surplus down
In 2021, the total economy showed a surplus with the rest of the world at EUR 2,138 million or 4.1% of GDP. This was significantly lower than the year before, when its share in GDP was 7.2%. It was also lower than in the 2017–2019 period. The surplus in trade in goods and services with the rest of the world amounted to EUR 3,310 million, and was lower than in 2020. The growth of imports of goods and services was higher than the growth of exports. The surplus with the rest of the world was predominantly generated in trade with services.
Non-financial corporations surplus lower
Non-financial corporations operated with a surplus of EUR 327 million or 0.6% of GDP, which was significantly lower than in the previous year when it stood at 3.4% of GDP. The gross investment rate of non-financial corporations (ratio between gross fixed capital formation and gross value added) increased from 20.3% in 2020 to 21.4% in 2021 and was very similar to the gross investment rates in the last three years before the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. Anyway, this is still a lower rate than the EU-27 average (2021: 24.1%) and the euro area average (2021: 23.7%).
Financial corporations generated a deficit
Financial corporations ended 2021 with a deficit of EUR 67.2 million, while in 2020 they generated a surplus of EUR 44 million. In 2021, restrictions on the distribution of profits were relaxed (introduced in 2020 due to the COVID-19 epidemic), so financial corporations paid out significantly more dividends. There were also more payouts from reinvested earnings on foreign direct investments in Slovenia.
Government sector deficit lower
In 2021, the government sector generated a deficit of EUR 2,440 million or 4.7% of GDP. It was EUR 1,192 million lower than in the previous year. Expressed as a percentage of GDP, deficit decreased by 3 percentage points (2020: 7.7% of GDP). Revenue growth (14%) exceeded expenditure growth (7%), but total government sector expenditure remained higher than its total revenue. Tax revenues, namely value added tax and income tax, had the greatest impact on growth in total revenues, while expenditures for social transfers had the greatest impact on growth in total expenditures. Expenditures for subsidies were significantly lower compared to the previous year. They were extremely high in 2020 due to mitigating the consequences of the epidemic.
Household sector and NPISHs generated a surplus
In 2021, the surplus of the household sector, together with NPISH, amounted to EUR 4,318 million. The disposable income of households increased by 7.7% compared to 2020. Compensation of employees represented the largest share in the structure of total household income. In 2021, the share was 51.9%, which is 0.2 of a percentage point more than in the previous year. In 2021, households significantly, by 13.3%, increased their final consumption expenditures. This was one of the highest rates of growth in household final consumption expenditure, and was the result of relaxing restrictions and re-opening after the lockdown in 2020, when we reached a peak decline in household final consumption expenditure.
After the peak rate reached in 2020, the gross household saving rate lower
The growth of gross disposable income and the strengthened growth of household final consumption expenditure were reflected in lower gross household saving, which amounted to EUR 6,149 million. As expected, the gross household saving rate (the ratio between gross saving and gross disposable income) decreased. It dropped by 4 percentage points to 18.7%. Nevertheless, the household saving rate remained higher than in the period before the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. The decline in the gross household saving rate compared to 2020 was more pronounced in Slovenia than - according to currently published data - for the EU-27 average (from 18.4% to 16.7%) and for the average in the euro area (from 19.5% to 17.4%).
Gross national income up by 10.2% over the previous year
The amount of the gross national income is the one that affects the amount of contribution that Slovenia pays into the European budget. In 2021, it amounted to EUR 51,471 million, which is 10.2% more than a year earlier.
Tables with the latest data are available in the SiStat Database.
