Slovenia’s exports in 2023 reached 55 billion euros. In a decade the value has grown by more than 100 percent: back in 2000, the total value was still only 9.5 billion euros. Slovenia’s largest exporting market is Switzerland – yet mostly due a crucial logistics hub belonging to Swiss pharma giant Novartis, situated near Ljubljana’s airport. If we ignore the cargo passing through this large warehouse, first place belongs firmly to Germany. The total value of Slovenian goods reaching German customers has reached 7.4 billion euros. Germany is followed by Italy (4.7 billion), Croatia (4.2 billion), Austria (3.1 billion) and France (1.8 billion euros of exports).
The main exporting products are:
- electrical machinery and equipment (including home appliances),
- machinery and mechanical appliances,
- vehicles and automotive components,
- pharmaceuticals, and
- metal products.
Gorenje, a subsidiary of Chinese Hisense, was the largest Slovenian exporter in 2023 with a total value of exports exceeding 2.4 billion euros. The home appliances manufacturer is also a key European manufacturing base for Hisense TV sets. A list of the nation’s best exporters was compiled by business newspaper Finance. The second largest exporter on the list is generic drug manufacturer Krka with 1.6 billion of revenues created outside the home market. Krka is closely followed by its arch-rival Lek, a part of the Sandoz group. Lek sales outside of Slovenia exceeded 1.5 billion euros. The fourth place is occupied by Revoz, Renault’s factory in Novo mesto. Last year the exports of Revoz reached 819 million euros – this figure is expected to grow significantly once the new electric Twingo models start to roll out of the Novo mesto plant in 2025. The fifth largest exporter is aluminium manufacturer Impol with 770 million euros.
Source: SPIRIT Slovenia
