Socioeconomic characteristics of population, 1 January 2024

Under a million active population

On 1 January 2024, there were 30% pensioners among population aged 15 or more. The number of active population decreased slightly compared to 2023, and the share of population with tertiary education surpassed 26%.

  • 18 December 2024 at 10:30
  • |
  • final data
Fewer active persons than a year ago

The number of active persons (i.e. employed and unemployed) decreased in 2023 by 1,500 to 998,400. On 1 January 2024, employed persons represented 95% of all active persons (half of a percentage point more than a year earlier).

In 2023, the number of pension recipients among the population of Slovenia increased by 5,900, so on 1 January 2024 there were 535,300 pension recipients in Slovenia. Two-thirds (66%) of all inactive population aged 15 or more (i.e. retired persons, pupils and students, and other inactive) were retired. The number of pupils and students went up by 4,200 and the number of other inactive population by about 3,000.

Better educated

At the beginning of the year, Slovenia had 475,100 residents with tertiary education. The share of population with tertiary education increased by 0.3 a percentage point in 2023. In total, there were 390,800 residents (21.6%) aged 15 or more with basic education or less. The most residents had upper secondary education: 52.2%.

Better education among the employed, retired women less educated than retired men

Among the employed population, 37% had tertiary education. Among the unemployed population, the share was 19%. The share of those with basic education or less was much higher among the unemployed (22%) than among the employed (9%). The share of those with upper secondary education was under 60% in both groups.

One-third (32%) of pension recipients had basic education or less. Due to a specific age-sex structure of this group (more women tend to live to old age), there were more women with basic education or less (40%) than men (22%). The smallest gender gap among pension recipients was recorded among those with tertiary education, but they were quite few (about 15%).
Population aged 15 or more by educational attainment and sex, Slovenia, 1 January 2024
TotalMenWomenTotalMenWomen
number%1)
Total1,811,104907,222903,882100.0100.0100.0
Basic or less390,804167,079223,72521.618.424.8
  no education2,8891,2301,6590.20.10.2
  incomplete basic43,59119,10524,4862.42.12.7
  basic344,324146,744197,58019.016.221.9
Upper secondary945,231544,722400,50952.260.044.3
  short-term vocational upper secondary31,05320,68110,3721.72.31.1
  vocational upper secondary369,196240,404128,79220.426.514.2
  technical, general upper secondary544,982283,637261,34530.131.328.9
Tertiary475,069195,421279,64826.221.530.9
  short-term higher (former), higher vocational101,41746,28155,1365.65.16.1
  1st cycle of higher, professional higher (former) etc.135,27052,31282,9587.55.89.2
  2nd cycle of higher, professional higher (former) etc.202,02079,062122,95811.28.713.6
  "magisterij" of science (former) etc.21,8429,77712,0651.21.11.3
  doctorate of science14,5207,9896,5310.80.90.7
1) Some totals do not add up due to rounding.
Population aged 15 or more by activity status and sex, Slovenia, 1 January 2024
TotalMenWomenTotalMenWomen
number%1)
Total1,811,104907,222903,882100.0100.0100.0
Active998,358545,966452,39255.160.250.0
  employed949,671520,874428,79752.457.447.4
  unemployed48,68725,09223,5952.72.82.6
Inactive812,746361,256451,49044.939.850.0
  pupils90,30746,45443,8535.05.14.9
  students66,12127,58638,5353.73.04.3
  pension recipients535,335233,379301,95629.625.733.4
  others120,98353,83767,1466.75.97.4
1) Some totals do not add up due to rounding.
METHODOLOGICAL NOTE
Additional explanations are available in the methodological explanations.
When making use of the data and information of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, always add: "Source: SURS". More: Copyright.