Slovenia: Economy loses traction in the second quarter
Detailed national accounts data released by the country’s Statistical Office showed that the economy lost ground in the second quarter, with annual GDP growth falling to 3.8% in the quarter, down from 4.5% in the first quarter. Domestic demand grew at a notably slower pace in Q2 as annual growth in both household consumption and fixed investment decelerated from the previous quarter.
Looking at the domestic side of the economy, private consumption growth weakened considerably from 3.3% in the first quarter to 1.1% in the second quarter. The ongoing boom in construction investment supported strong growth in fixed investment, although it moderated from 10.1% in Q1 to 8.3% in Q2. On the other hand, government spending picked up, expanding 5.3% in Q2 following a 1.2% climb in the previous quarter.
Conversely, the external sector contributed to growth, after dragging on the economy in the previous quarter. Exports jumped 9.3% in Q2 after an 8.7% increase in Q1. Meanwhile, import growth slowed to 8.3% in Q2, down from 10.5% in Q1. With exports outpacing imports, the external sector’s contribution to growth increased to 1.7 percentage points in the second quarter, contrasting a 0.4 percentage point deduction in the first quarter.
On a seasonally- and working-day-adjusted, quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy grew 0.8% in the second quarter, gaining traction from the 0.5% expansion in the first quarter (previously reported: +0.6% quarter-on-quarter). Meanwhile, in seasonally- and working-day adjusted annualized terms, GDP growth fell to 4.3% in Q2, down from a revised figure of 4.9% in Q1 (previously reported: +5.0% yoy).