Municipality Metlika, which is part of the Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistical region, measures 109 km2; this ranks it 60th among Slovene municipalities.
Statistical data for 2022 reveal the following:
In the middle of 2022 about 8,480 people (about 4,350 men and 4,130 women) were living in the municipality, which ranks Metlika 62nd among Slovene municipalities. The population density was 78 people per square kilometre, which was lower than the national average of 104 people per square kilometre.
The number of live births was lower than the number of deaths, which means that natural increase per 1,000 population in the municipality was negative. It was –3.3 (in Slovenia –2.3). The number of people who moved from the municipality was lower than the number of people who moved into the municipality, so net migration per 1,000 population in the municipality was positive. It was 4.8. The sum of natural increase and net migration per 1,000 population in the municipality was positive. It was 1.5 (in Slovenia 4.6).
The mean age of people in Metlika was 44.9 years, which was higher than the national average (43.9).
As in most Slovene municipalities, in Metlika the number of old people was higher than the number of young people: there were 161 people, aged 65 or more, per 100 people aged 0–14. This ratio shows that the value of the ageing index was higher than the national average of 142. It also shows that the mean age of people in Metlika is growing more rapidly than in Slovenia as a whole. Data by sex show that the ageing index for women was in all municipalities except in four (Črna na Koroškem, Dobrovnik/Dobronak, Jezersko in Mislinja) higher than the ageing index for men. In Metlika – as in most Slovene municipalities – more women were 65+ years old than 14 or less; for men the situation was the same.
Metlika had 1 kindergarten, which was attended by 318 children. Of all children in the municipality aged 1–5, 76% were included in kindergartens, which was less than the national average of 82%. In the school year 2022/23 elementary schools in Metlika were attended by about 720 pupils, while various upper secondary schools were attended by about 310 pupils. There were 35 students and 7 graduates per 1,000 people in the municipality; in Slovenia the averages were 38 per 1,000 and 8 per 1,000, respectively.
Among people aged 15–64 (i.e. working age population) about 72% were persons in employment (i.e. persons in paid employment or self–employed persons), which is more than the national average (69%).
In Metlika, average monthly gross earnings per person employed by legal persons were about 17% lower than the annual average of monthly earnings for Slovenia; net earnings were about 16% lower.
Among 1,000 inhabitants in the municipality, 600 had a passenger car. The car was on average 12 years old.
In 2022, 333 kg of municipal waste per person was collected in Metlika, which is 28 kg less than on average in Slovenia.